Heart Of Darkness: The Journey to Skull Island
by SteveIsMyHomeboy
Summary: May Beaulieu is one of the best photographer in New York, at least according to Carl Dehnam. Happy to get away from the city, she decides to enjoy her trip. Little does she know that this will be no vacation to Singapore. JimmyxOC
1. Start of an Adventure

**A/N **Hello All!  
This story has been completely edited over and a few scenes have been added to further improve it's quality.  
I hope you all enjoy ;)

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Start of an Adventure **

_While I'm off chasing my own dreams,_  
_sailing around the world,_  
_please know that I'm yours to keep,_  
_my beautiful girl_

It was a particularly busy evening in New York City. Although it always seemed to be filled with cars honking and people hurriedly attending to whatever business they may have.

Even the harbors stretched across the long city were hectic. Men were loading boats with goods and supplies for journeys to far countries and voyages across the ocean. Ships and steamers, big and small could be seen up and down the shore, smoke pouring out the tall stacks. Most of the men lining the harbors were older and looked rough and dirty, although there were a few younger men working among them.

A disruptive horn rang through the bustling dock.

"Two thousand...c'mon Englehorn, it's a deal! Will you take a cheque?" A short and slightly rounded man was arguing with a taller and rougher looking man.

"Do I have choice?" The other man replied dryly, a German accent gracing his words. They stood in front of a rather small, beat up steamer. Compared to the other ships around them it definitely wouldn't be anyone's first choice.

The words 'Venture' were placed on the side of the ship.

Dehnam turned bright red and looked slightly embarrassed as he turned to the beautiful scarlet waiting patiently behind him. She looked rather intrigued by the ongoing argument between the two older men.

"Can we talk about this later?" He asked him in a higher voice, "Can't you see we're in the company of a VIP guest?"

Englehorn bowed his head slightly, "Ma'am."

"Ann Darrow," She responded hesitantly.

"So, are you ready for this voyage, Miss Darrow?" He asked, glaring ever so slightly in the Dehnam's direction.

"Sure," Ann replied shyly.

"Nervous?" He suggested, striking a match and lighting his cigarette.

"Nervous? No," She paused, confusion written on her face, "why should I be?"

"Not every woman would take such a risk," Englehorn informed her, an all knowing smirk on his face as he exhaled the smoke from his lungs.

Ann looked uneasily to Dehnam, who now looked desperate for an escape from this conversation.

"Preston!" He called out to a young man standing nearby, he wore glasses and looked a little too clean to be a regular in these areas.

As if reading his mind, he introduced himself to Ann and swept her aboard the ship before she could ask another question.

"Phew," Dehnam sighed in relief. That could have ended badly.

Englehorn opened his mouth to say something nasty to him, but was interrupted by an angry voice behind him.

"You better have a good explanation for this Dehnam."

Standing behind Englehorn was a young woman, who could be no older than seventeen or eighteen. She had long dark brown, with loose curls, that reach her mid-thigh and wide blue eyes, the color of the ocean. They complimented her pale face beautifully. She wore a long light violet dress and a dark grey jacket that looked as if it had seen much better days, but it certainly was appropriate for the chilly winter weather. She held two very large suitcases in each hand and look severely pissed off.

"May! How wonderful to see you again," He laughed nervously and walked over to help her with her luggage, "Where's Thomas?"

"He already went on, looking for Mike I think," She explained harshly.

Englehorn raised an eyebrow to the strange young woman, "And who might this be? Mr. Dehnam we never discussed bringing these woman aboard."

May gave him an angry glare, clearly not happy by the way he referred to her, "Why am I here if I am not wanted here Carl? I would be more than happy to go back home."

"No, no, no, no!" He exclaimed in protest, "We need you here May!"

Englehorn looked on, unimpressed, "Besides, I do not think your bags will fit in your room."

May, now looking even angrier, began to turn around. But Dehnam walked in front of her and put his hands up, "Please, without you our movie will not become what it is meant to be, we need you May!"

She sighed in defeat, she hated when he guilt tripped her doing things.

Dehnam looked around her shoulder to a very confused Englehorn, "This is May Beaulieu, she's the photographer, best in the entire city!"

"You only like me because I'm cheap," She muttered angrily, turning now to face Englehorn, "These suitcases are mostly filled with my equipment; I would have brought less but..." She glared at Dehnam once more.

"We need to make sure we get great shots!" He exclaimed, raising his hand in defense, "Now Englehorn! Time for us to go! Cast off! Hoist up the man sail; raise the anchor, whatever the hell it is you do. We gotta' leave!"

Englehorn, too annoyed to continue arguing simply nodded. "I hope you have a good trip Ms. Beaulieu." He said quietly to May as he walked by her, a strange look of warning set deep in his blue eyes.

May did not know what to make of this, so she ignored it. She said her final goodbyes to New York and followed Carl onto the steamer.

"Does anyone know where Jack is?" Carl yelled as soon as they were aboard, he rushed away and was soon out of sight.

May sighed, _"This is going to be a very long trip,"_ she was sure of it. Standing on the deck of the ship, facing the city, the engines of the steamer began to move and soon enough they were drifting farther and farther away.

She was not sure if she was going to miss the city, she had lived there all her life, but her life had not exactly been a wonderful one. She reached down, unbuckled one of her suitcases and pulled out one of her favorite cameras, The Vollenda, a German made camera from Nagel. She adjusted the lens and arranged the camera to face the bright city. A sharp click echoed throughout the deck.

'_I wonder what Singapore is like,'_ She thought peacefully. Perhaps this would be an amazing trip; she would get to see the wonders of the world. There would be no tall dirty buildings and pollution. The ongoing depression would seem practically inexistent. Maybe she wouldn't want to return.

It was then that May decided that she was glad she was leaving.

But her thoughts were rudely interrupted by an angry voice cursing loudly beside her.

"Goddamnit Carl!"

May turned to see a man with a terrified look on his face. He actually looked like he was going to jump in the water for a minute, but he seemed to decide against it. Suddenly Dehnam came up behind him.

"I keep telling you, Jack, there's no money in theatre." He said knowingly, with a smirk on his face, "You're much better off sticking with film."

The man gave Dehnam an exasperated look, "I don't do it for the money, Carl, I happen to love theatre."

Carl gave him a mocking look of disbelief, "Oh you don't," He looked with more seriousness out to the docks, "If you really loved it you would have jumped."

Looking out to the shore once more, May noticed that police cars now seemed to be lining the docks.

She shook her head in disbelief,_ 'Typical.'_

May picked up her luggage and walked over to them both, "What exactly did you do this time Carl."

Jack turned when he noticed her approaching, but Carl just stood with a wide smirk on his face, looking out to the men cursing loudly on the dock, which was now very far away.

"Jack did I ever introduce you to May?" Carl asked enthusiastically.

Jack gave a small smile to the young woman, who looked slightly concerned for Carl's sanity.

She sighed, ignoring Carl for the moment, "May Beaulieu," She said warmly, with an attempted smile, "I'm the photographer."

He held his hand out and shook hers momentarily, "Jack Driscoll, I'm the writer," He informed her sadly.

She stared at him with wide-eyes, "You're Jack Driscoll?"

Jack looked surprised by her reaction, "Yes, have you heard of my work?"

"Yes, I have seen a few of your plays," May grinned, "They were spectacular."

Jack chuckled quietly, "Thanks, its nice to know some people still appreciate theater." He glanced in Carl's direction, where he was now smoking a pipe.

"The world of film is bigger and better than ever!" Carl announced dramatically, "And my film..." He looked to them both, "Our film, will make history!"

May sighed, too tired and annoyed to put up with him. "I'm going to go find my room, I'll see you two later," She looked to Jack and exchanged a small smile, before picking up her luggage and walking to the door that went below deck.

"You shouldn't have dragged her along Carl, shes young, she should be going to school and doing whatever else it is girls do at that age," Jack mumbled the last part, before shaking his head with a chuckle, "Am I really that old?"

"Older!" Carl smirked, raising a finger in the air, "She finished school early, smart one she is. Besides, I'm doing her a favor! She's being respectively paid for her photography services, believe me, she'll get any client after this film." He inhaled from his and puffed out rings of smoke.

"Yeah yeah," Jack sighed, waving the polluted air around his face, "I wish you wouldn't smoke those things around me."

"You truly are a strange man, my friend," Carl laughed, before succumbing to a vicious cough.

He raised an eyebrow at him, before turning to the door that May had just disappeared down, "Might as well start on the rest of that script, where's my room?"

"Oh, uh, Preston should be down there, he'll show you your room!" Carl explained with a nervous grin, "Tomorrow I'll introduce you to the star of m-, our film!"

"Already met him," Jack raised his lip in disgust, "Worse than I imagined he would be, all actors are the same," He shook his head and pulled a hand through his hair.

Carl responded with a creepy chuckle, "Oh no, Jack, the lead in this film is a woman."

Jack turned back around, "What? You brought another woman on board? Fantastic, I bet you the crew will love this."

"And so will you! Beautiful and smart, the perfect women, you'll realize this when you meet her tomorrow."

"There's no stopping you is there Carl?" Jack smiled weakly before turning around and heading down to meet Preston.

* * *

May looked out the small window in her cabin, admiring the clear night sky, full with stars and the moon shining brilliantly.

She had found Thomas, her assistant, or rather mentor, standing in the empty hallway below deck. He had been one of the most helpful people in her difficult life at the moment. He helped her with her suitcases and showed her too her small cabin that reeked of fish and tobacco. After wishing him a goodnight, she emptied her suitcases and decided to get some sleep. But she had found it difficult with the constant movement of the ship waking her up.

Finally, May came to the conclusion that we was not going to be sleeping anytime soon. So she left her room, a camera in her hand, and made her way back up to the deck.

There weren't many people on deck in the late night. Only a few of the men were still working on the ship.

May walked across the deck, in her flannel blue nightgown fluttering in the cool breeze, her old grey coat wrapped snugly around her shoulders. She walked slowly, until she found a small area away from all others, facing the beautiful crescent moon. She appreciated the beauty of this world far more than any other stuck up city girl ever would.

She held up her camera and took a few shots of the sky.

"Too bad I have to wait until we get back to develop them," She muttered in disappointment, "I can't wait to see how they turn out." She took a couple more shots.

"Oi! Who's down there?"

May jumped at the loud voice echoing through the quiet ship. '_Where did that come from?_' She thought.

Suddenly, she looked up to what she assumed was the crow's nest and noticed a dark figure sitting way up there. It was slightly difficult to see him because of the darkness engulfing the ship.

"Um, I'm sorry, I couldn't sleep." She called out nervously, she was afraid of how the men on this ship would react to her being on board.

It was silent for a couple of minutes, until she could hear the loud laughter of a young man. She raised her eyebrow in confusion.

"I thought you were a ghost!" The voice said softly after the laughter died away, "I didn't know any women were coming along." His voice sounded younger, and not as rough as the men she heard speaking earlier.

She couldn't help but giggle at the thought, "A ghost? Why would you believe it to be a ghost?"

"This ship's really old, who knows what kind of spirits haunt the deck," His voice sounded menacing.

"Oh really?" She smiled brightly, "Well in that case I guess I'll have to watch out."

He laughed once more, although softer this time. "Anyways, I really should be going back to bed, Dehnam will be furious if I'm not up tomorrow morning." May told him sadly.

"I'll see you tomorrow then? My name's Jimmy by the way," He offered, she could almost hear the bright smile on his face.

"Yes I do hope so," She chuckled, "My name is May."

"Well g'night May, don't let the bedbugs bite." His chuckled again, although she was pretty sure he was serious.

"Goodnight Jimmy." She whispered.


	2. Sea Legs

**Chapter 2 - Sea legs **

The sunrise was even more beautiful than May had expected. She had never really seen one before, living in a city with very tall buildings and all. She had found it very hard to get to sleep, with the steamer always in constant movement. So she ended up reading one her books she had brought along, for most of the night, after finding a gas lamp.

Not long after sunset, the sounds of men talking loudly to one another, and heavy footsteps on the deck could be heard from her cabin. So she decided she should probably get up and try to find something to eat.

May put on a white dress that reached just below her knee, and her old grey jacket. She took out her brush and got all of the knots out before deciding that she looked decent enough to leave her room.

She grabbed one of her camera cases and exited that cabin, making her way clumsily to the end of hallway. _'I'm going to need to get use to the movement of this ship,_' She told herself, right before falling flat on her butt.

"Ow," She whined quietly, before noticing a hand stretched out in front of her.

May looked up to see a friendly looking man, his skin was very dark and by the way he was dressed she could tell that he was one of the men working on the ship.

She grabbed his hand, and he helped her up off the ground, "Do not worry, you will get use to it after awhile," He gave her a small grin, he seemed quite friendly.

"Thank you," She said shyly, "Um, you wouldn't happen to know where the galley is would you?"

"Yes, of course, follow me," The man exclaimed, "Try not to hurt yourself," He chuckled as he walk down the long hallway.

Finally he stopped in front of a door, "I must get back to the captain," He said kindly, nodding his head in goodbye.

"Thank you Mr...um," She said nervously.

"Hayes," He smiled brightly, "And yours?"

"May Beaulieu," May offered kindly, "Thank you very much."

"No problem, please enjoy your breakfast," He said once more before walking back down the hall.

May took a deep breath before opening the door.

"May! I've been looking for you!"

'_Kill me now.'_

Carl was sitting at a small table with Preston, his personal assistant and Mike, the sound recorder, she had met him a couple times before. At another table was Thomas, sipping a cup of coffee, and reading over some of the completed script. Sitting beside him was Herb, an older man who was very sweet, he was the cameraman.

"Good morning dear," Herb welcomed, smiling kindly to her.

"Same to you Herb," May returned gently, "I was in my cabin, any idea where I could get some breakfast?"

"Of course!" Carl stated, pointing to a slightly strange looking man who was wearing a dirty apron, one of his eyes was slightly squinted. He stood over a a big pot of bubbling goo, and suddenly, she wasn't so hungry anymore.

"Porridge aux walnuts?" The strange man offered, with a wide grin on his face.

May looked back to Carl with a slightly disturbed look, "Um, so... where are the stars of your film?"

Carl opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when he heard the door open, "Speak of the devil! Ann come on in! Let me introduce you to the crew! This is Herb, our cameraman."

Ann reached out and shook Herbs hand lightly, "Delighted to meet you ma'am, and may I say what a lovely dress!" Herb complimented.

"Oh! This old thing? I just threw it on," She chuckled nervously.

"Isn't that one of Maureen's costumes?" Preston asked Carl, with a confused expression.

"What does a girl have to do round here to get some breakfast?" Ann asked, changing the subject quickly.

Lumpy looked over to her this time, "Fancy some of me... Porridge aux walnuts?"

Ann, looking just as scared as May did, looked up to see her chuckling quietly, "I'm May, the photographer." She introduced, and that's Thomas, he also helps with photography," She pointed to him and he smiled kindly to Ann.

"Ah, well it's nice to know there's another woman on this ship," Ann exclaimed, "Although you don't look quite old enough to be a photographer."

"She's only eighteen! Started when she was just a little girl! More experienced than any old geezer in New York," Carl said dramatically.

"Now, now, don't go acting like you know my whole life story," May growled.

"And I don't believe you've met-" Carl began, looking down to Mike, but Ann interrupted him.

"That's alright Mr. Dehnam, I know who this is..." Ann was staring wide-eyed at Mike.

May gave Carl a strange look, since when did Ann know Mike? Sure he worked in movies, but sound recorders usually weren't very well known.

"It's wonderful to finally meet you. It's an honor to be a part of this," Ann exclaimed nervously.

"Gee thanks," Mike blushed; May was trying hard to keep back a very un-ladylike snort.

"Actually, I'm quite familiar with your work." Ann gushed.

"Really?" Mike said, almost in disbelief.

"Yes, what I most admire is the way you capture the voice of common people." She continued on in awe.

"Well, that's my job," He explained, still not exactly following. Meanwhile Jack had entered the room, a book in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other.

"I'm sure you've heard this before Mr. Driscoll, if you don't mind me saying, but you don't look at all like your photograph." She explained. Jack looked alarmed, taking in what exactly was happening around him.

'_Carl had never said she had vision problems.'_

"Wait a minute Ann!" Carl interrupted suddenly.

"He's so much younger in person," She whispered to Dehnam, "And much better looking."

Jack sighed and began to walk over to the table, while May was trying hold back her fits of laughter.

"Ann... Ann! Stop right there-" Carl tried again.

"I was afraid you might be one of those self obsessed literary types. You know the tweedy twerp with his nose in a book and his head up his -"

Jack snapped his book shut, echoing through that now silent room. Ann turned slowly, her face dropping, and a look of mortification apparent.

"It's nice to meet you too Ms. Darrow..." Jack smiled as politely as possible.

May couldn't hold it in any longer; she let out a loud echoing laugh, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Carl glared evilly at her, while the others just stared at her like she was crazy. Deciding she not longer wanted to be in the room; she put a comforting hand on Ann's shoulder and walked out of the room.

'_I'll let them deal with it themselves.'_

"We're shooting in thirty, May!" Carl called out before the door swung close.

* * *

After returning to her room to retrieve her camera case, May went up to deck to prepare for the filming of the first scene. Carl explained what kind of shots he wanted and they began.

The scene was between Ann, and Bruce Baxter, some 'big time actor', although all she knew was that he was self-absorbed, and a bit of an ass.

She took photos from different angles, sure to stay out of the film's camera.

"Okay, let's take a 20 minutes break!" Carl called out after about an hour of shooting various scenes.

May laid her camera down on a large crate and sat down, enjoying the cool breeze. Jack took a seat beside her, proof-reading one of his scripts.

"How's the script writing going?" May asked, attempting at conversation.

"Fine," He muttered.

May sighed, "Don't be angry at Ann, she means well. She's a big fan of your work you know."

Jack looked up, only to see Ann staring at him across the set, she looked away quickly.

"I know, I know, I'm not angry." He assured her.

"Good," May laughed, hopping up from the crate, "Gotta' go find my other lens, I'll seeya later."

She hopped up and walked happily in the warm sun towards the other side of the deck.

When May approached the door to below deck, she noticed two of the ships crew blocking the door. They seemed to be fighting over a carton of cigarettes.

"_Okay May, just take a deep breath and say 'excuse me', it's not like they're going to punch you in the face."_

They were both grabbing an end of the cigarette carton, using their strength to win it over.

"Excuse m..." But May was cut off when one of the men suddenly lost hold of the carton, his elbow flying backwards and hitting May straight in the face.

She swore she actually saw stars for a moment.

"_Oye! Look what you made me do!"_

"_It was your fault you moron!"_

Then, well, everything went black.


	3. Stewed Lamb Brains

**Chapter 3 - Stewed Lamb Brains**

_I wouldn't be surprised if she has a concussion! I swear Englehorn, they could have killed her!"_

_"Hardly Mr. Dehnam. It was an accident, I'm sure she will be alright."_

May's eye's felt heavy, and her head was throbbing terribly. Her eyes fluttered open slowly but surely, surprised to be staring up at a ceiling.

**"Fuck."** May muttered bitterly, in response to the sudden rush of pain.

The room was silent for a moment, "Well, she's awake."

Clenching her teeth, she moved up slowly, leaning against the hard bedpost. She was in room, that she did not recognize at first glance. Surrounding her bed, were the Captain, Hayes and Dehnam, who had a very overdramatic relieved expression on his face.

"Glad to see you are alright Ms. Beaulieu. I apologize for my men's behavior-" Englehorn began.

"Sure as hell he is, I thought I lost my photographer for a minute!" Dehnam declared.

May rolled her eyes, "It's going to take a lot more than a bump on the head to kill me Carl."

Hayes raised his eyes conspicuously. "I'm afraid it is more than a just a small bump," He explained, passing over a mirror to May, "You hit you head on the side of a steel storage crate."

Dehnam's eyes shifted nervously to Englehorn, as May grabbed the mirror.

Looking into that mirror, it was much worse than she would have expected. Although the pain seemed to be just about right. There was a long gash from right below her left eyebrow, that curved slightly and finished at her upper jaw-line. There didn't seem to be any blood escaping from the wound at the moment, but it was still slightly swollen.

May's mouth remained open, a terrified look in her eyes as she examined the wound.

Englehorn coughed lightly, "I must get back to the deck, I am sorry once again." He nodded goodbye and left the room.

"_Wait! Englehorn!"_ Dehnam called out, managing to escape the room.

Soon enough the only ones left in the room were May and Mr. Hayes. Breaking from her trance, May set the mirror down on her lap, a small, sad frown on her delicate face.

"It is not very deep, there shouldn't be a scar when it heals," Hayes added thoughtfully, "It was much worse when Jimmy found you."

Her eyes widened, "Jimmy?"

He gave her a curious glance, "Yes, he was walking by when he saw you lying unconscious on the ground, with those two idiots arguing beside you. He seemed quite worried about you," Her expression became more interested, "Have you met him already?"

She tried to conceal the blush that was forming in her cheeks, "Um, yes, last night I spoke to him, although I didn't actually see him..."

Hayes looked to her, confused, "Well, he's probably around on deck, if you'd like to speak with him later." He smiled calmly, "He was very worried about you, you lost quite a bit of blood."

Her face turned pale, "Blood?"

He chuckled, "Yes, don't worry though, you'll survive."

May exhaled deeply, "If you say so," She whispered quietly.

Hayes walked beside her bed, and sat down beside her. He lifted her chin lightly, and examined the wound, "I should probably put some gauze on it, then perhaps we can go see if Lumpy decided to put something other than walnuts in his porridge," He chuckled softly.

She couldn't help but grin when he laughed; he certainly knew how to lift someone's spirit.

* * *

It turns out that Lumpy had decided to change up the menu that night. Although May was pretty sure that stewed lamb brains weren't any better.

And so, she sat on the lonely side of the deck, frowning softly and holding her grumbling stomach.

When May had reappeared back up on deck, Ann seemed quite happy to see she was alright. Jack had teased her about her clumsiness, earning glares from her. Sure she was slightly clumsy, but this time it wasn't entirely her fault. She was going to have a long scar, and two grown men constantly apologizing to her, to prove her point. The man, who accidentally hit her, was named Martin, and the one he was arguing with was Peter. They had a slightly rough exterior, but they actually seemed to be quite nice. Although it was extremely annoying having them follow her around constantly.

Finally she managed to escape from them, when dinner had been served and they returned to the galley to eat.

'_This trip isn't exactly turning out like I planned,'_ She thought with a sigh, as she watched the clouds move slowly over the darkening blue horizon.

"It's a little early to watch the sunset, don't cha think?"

May turned quickly, she knew that voice.

Standing behind her was a boy. Well more like a young man. He looked to be about one or two years older than her. He had scruffy light brown hair, and light blue eyes that shimmered in the late afternoon light. He stood out among the older men on the steamer, mostly because, as much as she hated to admit it, he was fairly handsome.

May blushed and pushed away those thoughts, "Perhaps, but there isn't much else to do," She laughed softly.

He looked at her with his eyes dramatically widened in surprise, "You really think so?" He walked over to the rail on the edge of the steamer and gazed out to the never ending ocean, "Well I guess to a rich little city girl this rusty steamer wouldn't seem like much..." He teased lightly.

"Now wait a minute! I'm not just a city girl, and I'm hardly rich!" She said, her tone indicating she was somewhat offended.

"Not just a city girl, eh?" Jimmy turned to face her once more and smirked cheekily, "Well you sure look like one.

May pouted her bottom lip playfully, "What's wrong with what I look like?"

She became increasingly self-conscious as Jimmy looked her up and down, smiling all the while, "Well, for one your hair's too tidy... and only a city girl would wear such a pretty dress on this filthy ship."

May blinked at him, ignoring the small compliment and pretending to look overly offended, "Well! I was about to ask if you'd like to sit and keep me company, but I'm not so sure about that anymore!"

Jimmy seemed convinced by her shocked expression, "Sorry, I just... I didn't mean anything by it, I'd liked to sit with you...I mean I'd keep you company if you want," He stuttered quickly.

May glared at him, her face still completely serious, before she burst into a fit of giggles.

'_Oh god, I __**sound**__ like a city girl.'_

"I'm just teasing you!" She declared happily, patting to a spot beside her on the crate she was sitting on, "I'd love the company."

Jimmy gave her a confused look, before chuckling and sitting down beside her, "Are you sure you don't work for Mr. Dehnam as an actress? You're pretty convincing."

She nodded slowly, "Nope, there's nothing in this world that I'd rather do more than photography, I've been doing it ever since I was five."

Jimmy looked pretty interested when he heard this, "Really? I've never really seen a camera before, they must be expensive."

She smiled warmly, as if thinking of a pleasant memory, "My mother gave me my first one, and it was my fathers before The War. He was really into photography; he loved how you could capture a memory, in just one photo, and keep it with you for the rest of your life." She frowned as she muttered the last words.

Jimmy looked into her eyes, trying to figure out what she was thinking, "Anyways," She continued with another small grin, "Thomas owns a small camera store in New York, and after he started letting me work for him, he would give me Cameras and equipment as pay." She explained.

"Is it hard?" He asked, with curiously written on his face, "Using a camera I mean."

"Once you understand how it works, it's pretty straight forward," She looked down to her fidgeting hands, "Maybe I could show you sometime?" She offered shyly.

A wide grin spread across his face and May could practically feel her cheeks turning red, "Sure! Maybe tomorrow! Well if you're not busy working on the film."

May chuckled at his enthusiasm, "Alright sounds good. I have a scrapbook in my room as well; I'll show you some of the photos I've taken."

Jimmy was about to respond when someone else's voice bellowed throughout the deck.

'**Jimmy!'**

Jimmy turned around tiredly, "Yes Mr. Hayes?"

Mr. Hayes appeared from behind the doorway to the hallway.

"Lumpy needs your help in the galley, those dishes aren't going to clean themselves!"

He sighed and turned back to May. She shrugged her shoulders, "At least you'll have something to do," She offered with a helpful grin.

"I'd much rather sit here with you," He muttered quietly.

"Hm? What was that?" She asked, although she was pretty sure she had heard him right.

"Eh? Nothing," He gave her a crooked smile, "I'll see you later May!" He yelled as he began to run off.

"Bye Jimmy," She whispered, although he was already long gone.

May had never really had a friend her own age before, and she never had she ever met someone who was actually interested in learning about photography. She had a feeling she was going to be spending a lot of time with Jimmy on this trip.

May turned back to the darkening sky, beaming with delight.

"So I see you've taken quite a liking to the girl," Hayes teased, before taking a spoonful of porridge.

* * *

"Yeah she's really neat," Jimmy said excitingly, "I mean I always thought girls were suppose to be annoying and only interested in money and clothes, but she doesn't care about any of that stuff, she's practically a professional photographer."

"Now who told you that?" Mr. Hayes laughed.

"Well, from what I've heard from the crew at least," Jimmy responded, scrubbing the pot clear of any lumpy remains, "They talk about how women exist only to screw up our lives." He chuckled at the last bit.

"Well that's because most of the crew are as old as the venture itself, bitter and used up," Hayes boomed with laughter, "You should be smarter than to listen to them, they know nothing about women."

"So I'm guessing you do then?" Jimmy gave him a teasing smirk, drying the pot.

Mr. Hayes pulled a slightly serious face, "Now is not the time for _that_ story." But Jimmy saw him smile momentarily before he got up from his chair, "I'm heading up to work with the captain, you should be up in the crow's nest until sunset then you can sleep for as long as you want."

"Aye-aye sir," He saluted him in response, getting suds all over his forehead.

"After you're done the dishes that is," He exclaimed quickly, before leaving Jimmy alone in the galley.

Jimmy looked over at the tall pile of dishes beside the sink and sighed deeply, this was going to be a long night.


	4. Mischief

**Chapter 4 - Mischief**

"_Mama, when is Papa comin' home?"_

_The woman's gaze stayed fixed in the direction of the window. She smiled sadly, "Soon, my dear."_

_The toddler beamed, "Good! Papa promised when he comes back he'll take me to see big boats!"_

"_Boats?" The woman chuckled softly, "And why exactly would he say that, little one?"_

_The girl pouted her bottom lip, "Papa said we could sail across the ocean! He promised!"_

_The woman laughed somewhat louder this time, reaching down and scooping up her daughter and placing her on her lap._

"_And where do you plan on running away to?" She teased lightly, eyeing her daughter suspiciously with a slight smile placed on her pale face._

_The young girl look thoughtfully at her mother, not exactly sure what to say, suddenly a bright smile appeared, "All over the world! Mama, Papa and May! On adventures!"_

_The woman's smile was replaced with a look of remorse; tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. She broke out into a loud sob, unable to hold it back._

"_Mama? Mama what's wrong?" The girl looked frightened by her mothers reaction, "Don't worry, Papa will be home soon."_

_The woman grabbed her daughter and pulled her into a tight embrace. _

_Clutched in her right hand was a piece of paper._

_**Mrs. Marie Beaulieu, **_

_**We deeply regret to inform you, Franklin Beaulieu was officially reported killed in action June, 6th 1918.**_

* * *

"You gonna' finish that?"

May looked down to her bowl, which miraculously was not filled with bubbling goo. She was enjoying her plain, chicken broth. She turned to face Peter, her eyes squinted suspiciously, "Yes, now will you stop bothering me, I'm savoring it."

"It's just soup," He grunted, looking down to his empty bowl, "You've been at it for an hour now."

"Have not!" May retorted angrily.

"Now, now children," Lumpy scolded, lowering his blade, as he began to shave one of the crewmen's beard, "Behave."

May stuck out her tongue playfully to Peter as she held the bowl up to her mouth and drank the rest of the soup.

Peter muttered something quickly about needing to go back to work, and got up and exited the galley.

She laughed triumphantly as she set her empty bowl back onto the table. She had enjoyed her first somewhat tasty meal aboard the steamer.

Thomas raised his eyebrow from across the table, "I really can't believe you just finished eating now, most of the crew has already gone to bed."

Herb laughed gently and began to shuffle a deck of cards, passing them out between him and Thomas, "Let the girl do what she wants."

"Why thank you Herb," May sent a gracious smile in his direction, she really did love the old man.

Many nights had passed since May had been on the rusty ship, nothing too interesting had occurred. She had gotten to know many of the ships crew members, actually discovering that they were great fun, and had many stories of their lives and adventures out at sea.

Most of the mornings and evenings were spent working on the film. Carl was as annoying as ever, he really did get into his movies. Oh well, maybe it was just a director thing. The rest of the film crew were extremely nice to her. Jack was a sort of big-brother figure to her, so it was only right to tease him when she had walked in on Ann and him kissing passionately in Ann's room. She truly was happy for him, but she would never let him live that down.

Although May spent her free time learning how to work the ship; with the eager and sometimes perverted sea men, and taking photographs of random happenings aboard the bustling ship, the one thing she truly desired each and every day was to spend time with Jimmy.

He was like the best friend she never had; he shared the same interests and seemed to enjoy the same things as her. It had all began one afternoon, a few days into their voyage.

_**Snap.**_

_A perfect shot. May beamed with delight, watching the men dance around the blond beauty. Ann had become particularly popular on the Venture, although May was convinced it was only because they were hoping they would get lucky._

_In the centre was Jimmy, failing his arms around Ann, who was dancing gracefully, a wide smile placed on her face. The men began to stomp their feet and clap their hands._

_May laughed softly as the men glared at the lucky boy dancing with Ann. She aimed her Camera at the scene, hoping to get a shot of them dancing. Her fingers pressed down on the button, just before a soft clicking noise could be heard, Jimmy looked directly into the camera lens, a crooked smile on his face._

_May found herself blushing as his gazed turned to her, his bright sky blue eyes looking into hers._

_Jimmy chuckled wickedly, and broke apart from the group, running swiftly and sitting beside May on the heavy crate. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped only to catch his breath._

"_What are you doing sitting here all by yourself?" He asked, his eyes fixed into hers, a clever smirk on his face._

"_Seizing the opportunity at great photos," She explained innocently, "By the way, I think I managed to get a few good ones of you dancing, if that's what you call it."_

_He feigned a hurt expression, "Why don't you show me how it's done then?"_

_She rolled her eyes with a grin, and opened her mouth to refuse, but before she knew it she was pulled to her feet, and Jimmy's arms were around her petite waist._

"_Jimmy! I can't dance!" She argued as the men around them began to clap and cheer once more._

_He smiled devilishly, "Then I'll show you how," He whispered softly into her ear, as he began to move her along to the beat, spinning her around clumsily._

_May giggled loudly as the men around her cheered and howled with laughter._

_The whole time, Jimmy's gentle gaze, never left hers._

She blushed ever so slightly when she recalled the pleasant memory.

Lumpy gave her a concerning look, "Everything alright ma chere?"

May shook from her thoughts, "Um, yes... ah, anymore soup?" She smiled innocently to Lumpy.

Lumpy sighed, as he finished removing every trace of stubble from a man's face, "Don't push your luck."

May gave him the saddest eyes she could conjure, but Lumpy only shook his head, "Won't work on me, love, mon coeur is black as coal." He boomed with laughter and the man he finished shaving laughed along with him.

"So cruel," She sighed, resting her head on the cool table and playing with her spoon.

"How's that movie of yours coming along?" Lumpy asked, ignoring her last statement, "Choy was very excited to see all the crew filming yesterday, thinks he's gonna be a movie star or something, eh?" They laughed loudly once more. Choy, who was helping the cook clean the dishes also laughed heartily, May knew that him and Lumpy were very good friends, "Told him if there's any shots of him at all, it only be a rear view, they won't want any shots of his ugly mug."

"Men are gross," May mumbled, getting up from the table, "I'm going to go for a walk." She announced quickly, heading for the door.

"You won't get very far!" She heard Lumpy call as she left the room, leaving the room of cackling men behind.

She walked slowly down the hall, attempting not to trip, which she was currently succeeding at, until, well she collided with something as she turned the corner. Which turned out to be a person, she discovered, as she fell directly on top of them.

May closed her eyes, scared of who it might have been, not all the crew aboard were as friendly as Peter or Lumpy.

"Trying to kill me, eh?"

May eyes opened quickly, she recognized that playful voice.

"Jimmy! Oh, I'm sorry!" She said unconsciously, until she realized her face was less than a few inches from his and her hands were resting on his soft chest.

Her cheeks turned a deep shade of red, as she jumped off of him. Jimmy burst into laughter as she fell with a small thud back onto the floor. He got up steadily and held his hand out to help her.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" He asked with a crooked grin.

May kept her head down, her face still felt hot, "No thanks! I'm quite capable of standing on my own thank you very much!"

She rested her hand on the wall, pushing herself up, only to trip over her own foot. Luckily Jimmy was still standing in front of her; he reached out and grabbed her before she fell, her head landing on his shoulder.

"Oh really?" He laughed, before pulling back, looking at her face with a somewhat concerned look, "You alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine!" She said a little too quickly, "Why wouldn't I be?"

His look became a little more concerned, "If you say so," He said slowly, "Say, how's your face by the way, I noticed the the scar was beginning to fade a little already."

"Hardly," May groaned, the gash was still visible on her face, she was hoping that when it actually started to go away, it would go away for good, "It's healing though."

"That's good," He assured her with a chuckle, "Anyways, I came down here to find you! I want to show you something!" Jimmy exclaimed enthusiastically.

She tilted her head and gave him a curious glance, she opened to mouth to say something, but was cut off when he grabbed her hand and ran towards the door going outside.

"Jimmy? What is it?" May asked, attempting to keep up with him without falling down again.

"You'll see!" He said, turning his head towards her and giving her a playful smile.

Once they were outside, he ran over to the side of the ship, pointing into the water. May was slightly frightened by his frantic behavior, until she looked at what he was pointing at. In the water were about five dolphins, all trying their hardest to keep up with the old ship.

May stared in awe at the creatures; she had only seen dolphins in paintings and a few photographs. But seeing them in person what such a different experience.

"They're...beautiful..." She stated in a small whisper, unaware that her fingers were still interlocked with Jimmy's.

Jimmy watched her closely as she looked down to the squealing dolphins. He smiled deeply, "I knew you would love them."

Suddenly one of the dolphins flipped into the air, sending a mist of cool ocean water over them both. Jimmy held onto his cap, laughing whole-heartily as May's entire face became drenched. He unconsciously wrapped him arm around her shoulder, protecting her from the spray of water.

"I don't think they like us very much!" May giggled, as another dolphin squealed loudly.

"I think their just happy to see you!" Jimmy explained with a crooked smile, as her gaze returned to his. She looked into his eyes, they reminded her so much of the morning sky. She wondered curiously what he was thinking as he stared into her eyes.

She was interrupted by a cocky voice that she sadly recognized, "Hey sweetie, you know where Carl is?"

May sighed and turned to face Bruce Baxter, "I think he's in the galley with Thomas and Mike, and how many times do I have to tell you my name is May?"

He winked at her, smiling cheekily all the while, "Thanks cutie, I'll see you kids around." He turned around and walked away once more.

"That guy is so full of it," May mumbled miserably.

Jimmy looked thoughtfully down at May, before a very mischievous smile began to creep upon his face. "Hey, I know something fun we could do."

She looked up to him, slightly frightened by his expression, "Hm? What?"

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small black pen that she instantly knew was Jack's editing pen. "You shouldn't steal from people Jimmy," She scolded quietly.

Jimmy's face became very serious, "Fine, then I guess you don't have to come with me!"

"Fine, fine!" May gave in, smiling all the while, "What are we doing exactly?"

"You'll see," He said as the evil smile re-appeared on his face.


	5. Realization

**Chapter 5 - Realization**

"Is he coming?"

"No, I don't think so," May whispered hastily as Jimmy popped off the cap of the black pen.

They were in Bruce Baxters room, which was just down the hall from the galley, they would have to act quickly. May had found it hard not to scoff, as she saw all the movie posters on the wall, this guy sure was full of himself.

Jimmy began drawing a moustache on one of the posters, "'Okay, well you keep watch till I'm done this one."

After awhile all the posters were covered in moustaches, unibrows and many unflattering tattoos; including one that read, 'I love my mommy.'

May found it extremely hard not to laugh loudly, but she managed to hold it back.

Suddenly she heard heavy footsteps coming down the hallway.

"Jimmy! He's coming!" She yelled out quietly.

"Damn! Looks like this one will be unfinished!" He snickered, as he popped the cap back on the pen and began to push May out the door quickly.

They ran down the hall, almost bumping into Baxter himself, who raised a suspicious eyebrow at them.

"See ya later Bruce," May said politely, stifling her laughter.

"Yeah, yeah later kid."

They continued down the hallway until they returned to the galley once more.

Thomas was still sitting at the table with Mike and Herb. Jack had appeared at another table with his typewriter, and Carl at his side.

"Ah May! You haven't happened to have seen one of Jack's pens have you? Seems he's running short-"

Unconsciously she threw the pen onto the table, "Sorry, I borrowed it for bit!"

Carl gave her a strange look, "Alright then, well next time tell him so I don't get in trouble for it," He muttered as he walked by her, "I shall see you all tonight! We have a very important scene to film, so much to plan!" And with that he was humming happily down the hall.

Jack's eye shifted from May to Jimmy as they grinned mischievously to each other, "What are you two up..."

A piercing scream echoed throughout the hallways, cutting Jack off mid-sentence.

"Ah, of course," Jack shook his head, with a gentle chuckle, looking back down to his typewriter.

Heavy stomping soon ensued and May and Jimmy took that as a clear indication that it was time to hide, and quickly at that.

"Well, it was lovely chatting, really must get back to work!" May shouted following Jimmy out of the door hurriedly.

"Children these days," Thomas mumbled through the cigarette in his mouth.

* * *

There was a storm coming. At least that's what Englehorn had told her. May didn't know how he knew exactly, but she assumed it was some sort of sixth sense that came with being a captain.

She had run into him on deck, while she was waiting to shoot a scene with Ann.

"Are you enjoying your trip Ms. Beaulieu?" He had asked kindly in his soft German accent.

She hesitated, slightly excited that she was finally having a conversation with the Captain of the ship, he hardly ever left his room, "Yes I really am! It's good to get away from the city."

Englehorn had smiled gently at this, he turned to face the ocean, "Beaulieu is french, oui?"

She looked to him, slightly surprised, "Oui, monsieur. Est-ce que tu sais comment on parle francais?"

"Un peu," He responded, with a deep chuckle. He lit a cigarette and inhaled the smoke smoothly, before releasing it into the chilled air. He rested an arm over the railing of the ship and looked out into the never ending horizon, the water illuminated only by the oranges and pinks of the setting sun.

May laughed openly, "My grandfather came from France in the late 1890's, he moved to New York later on, where he met my grandmother." She explained, "What about you? I would guess...Deutsch?"

He smiled meekly, "Then you would be correct."

"I've always wanted to go there," May said in an absent-minded tone, staring down at the soft waves lapping against the side of the Venture.

Englehorn watched the young woman curiously, but did not respond.

"May!" Carl was calling out for her once more.

May sighed tiredly, Carl never gave her a moments rest, "I better get back, have a good evening Captain!" She grinned.

He gave her a grin, "Bonsoir." But as soon as she was out of sight, the smile faded. He looked back out to the water and sighed, letting the smoke escape his mouth.

A heavy feeling of regret sat in his mind.

* * *

That evening they were filming a scene with just Ann. She looked breathtaking, with her thin white dress blowing in the cool ocean breeze. It was a very emotional shot of Ann on the edge of the rusty ship, the evening sunset directly behind her. She had tears in her eyes, everyone seemed to be captivated by her, but only one person seemed to have her attention.

"Jack, get outta here you're ruining my shot!" Carl whispered furiously.

Jack smiled sadly to Ann, before retreating back down to his room.

May grinned knowingly in his direction, as he made his way back down to the room full with animal cages and feces. Boy, was she glad she glad managed to get a room on the small ship. He hadn't even wanted to come along, and he was stuck with the worst room on the ship, if you could even consider it to be a room. It was more like a barn.

"Okay! That's a wrap!" Dehnam finally bellowed after a non-stop hour of filming.

As soon as the camera went off, Ann immediately went out of character. She wiped the fresh tears from her face and walked over to Thomas, who was patiently holding her blue jacket. She took the jacket from his hands and whispered a polite thank-you.

May wrapped the camera holder around her neck, letting the camera hang freely from her neck. She walked slowly over to Ann.

"That was amazing Ann! I didn't know you were such a great actress!" She complimented, truly surprised by her acting skills, she grinned and moved closer to Ann, putting her mouth close to her ear, "I'm pretty sure Jack wants to see you, he's below deck, you should go talk to him!"

May moved back, "Thank you May, um, yes I think I will go see what he's doing. I'll see you tomorrow then." Ann blushed lightly.

May waved cheerfully to Ann as she walked away gracefully to find Jack.

"You know, you shouldn't tease them," Thomas scolded her with a scratchy laugh; he was smoking on a long thin cigarette.

"Oh, don't ruin my fun," She pouted her lip, "Why exactly shouldn't I?"

He took a long drag on his cigarette, "Because then they might start teasing you."

"Tease me? About what exactly?" She asked curiously.

Thomas only smiled, raising his free hand and pointing to another side of the ship.

May's gaze followed his outstretched finger, looking past the numerous men working on the ship. Her eyes finally fell onto a certain figure, Jimmy. He was sitting on the bars surrounding the ship, one hand holding loosely onto some rope. Laughing freely, he began talking to an older man, who was cleaning the deck with a sopping wet mop.

Jimmy? What could they possibly say about her and Jimmy?

Her gazed remained fixed on his cheerful figure. He chuckled once more, although she didn't exactly know what they were saying. He turned his head unconsciously, a smile still planted on his face, and his eye landed directly on hers.

She couldn't look away, she didn't want to look away. The smile on his face began to die away, and turned into a look of curiosity. May suddenly looked away blushing, feeling rather stupid and embarrassed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," She muttered, trying her best to sound convincing.

He chuckled, "Of course you don't." And without another word, he walked away, following after Mike to help him with packing up the equipment.

May looked out at the ocean, confused by what had just happened. What could possibly be going on between her and Jimmy? Sure she loved talking to him, and being with him...

It was then that it hit her.

Perhaps her and Jimmy were becoming more than a friend, perhaps even _much_ more than a friend. They had been spending a lot of time with each other recently.

Now that she thought about it, she pretty much liked everything about him, his crooked smile, his eyes, his laugh, his rebellious nature, the way that he looked at her.

May, on impulse, turned around, only to find that Jimmy was no longer there, she had no idea how long she had been standing there thinking to herself.

She shook her head, trying to clear the confusing thoughts running through her mind. But she couldn't help one question from entering her mind.

Did he feel the same way?


	6. Skull Island

**Chapter 6 - The Island**

It was only the early afternoon, but the sky seemed to be getting darker with every passing moment. Dark clouds were rolling in quickly, and a distant rumbling noise could be heard.

"It seems Englehorn was right," May grumbled miserably, it wasn't that she hated thunderstorms. She just wasn't so sure she was prepared for that kind of thing, at least not out on a small old boat that was floating in the middle of the ocean.

There was a soft knock at the door.

May jumped, startled by the sudden noise. She had been lost in her thoughts.

She got up steadily, opening the door with a soft click, "What is it Preston?" She asked, slightly confused.

"Oh um, sorry to bother you, I just uh... Dehnam said that he wanted to talk to you about something," He said nervously, he obviously wasn't use to getting any attention from girls, "Something about tomorrow's scene I think."

"Tomorrow?" She raised an eyebrow, looking out the small window at the slowly brewing storm, "Dehnam really will do anything for his films." May muttered in a sigh, "I'll be there in ten."

"Alright, well goodbye for now Ms. Beaulieu," He gave her a nervous smile.

She nodded; as he began to back down the hall, too annoyed to tell him for the hundredth time that her name was May.

May walked back into the room, pulling out a long black dress that she had received from Thomas a couple years back. She loved it so much, that she decided to pack it in her luggage, even though she knew they were most likely going to end up on some old dirty ship.

She pulled on a thin jacket and decided that she was ready to go to the galley.

As she crept down the creaky hallway, she prayed silently that Lumpy had made something to eat. She hadn't eaten much in the last couple of days.

She walked over to the door of the galley, which was already open the slightest bit, but stopped when she heard angry voices on the other side.

"...someone were to tell you this ship is headed for Singapore, what would you say?" She recognized the deep voice as Mr. Hayes'.

"I would say they were full of it, Mr. Hayes, we turned south-west last night."

May peered through the small space, what exactly were they talking about?

"Gentleman please, We're not looking for trouble," She saw Dehnam plead calmly.

May looked away quickly, as Dehnams eye almost caught hers. She pressed her ear close to the open door.

Suddenly another voice joined in, one that she definitely recognized, "No, you're looking for something else."

_Jimmy. _

"Yes ...we are," He paused, "We're gonna find Skull Island! We're gonna find it, film it and show it to the world. For twenty five cents you get to see the last blank space on the map!" Dehnam responded enthusiastically.

May froze, feeling slightly sick to her stomach. _Skull Island? _He had to be kidding; they were going to Singapore, that's what he had told her.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. Seven years ago, me and Mr. Hayes, we were working our passage on a Norwegian baroque." Lumpy told Dehnam, in a slightly eerie voice, "We picked up a castaway, found him in the water, he'd been drifting for days."

"His ship had run aground on an island, way West of Sumatra. An island hidden in fog. He spoke of a huge wall, built so long ago - no one knew who had made it ... A wall a hundred foot high...as strong today as it was, ages ago." Mr. Hayes continued.

"Why did they build it?" Preston asked in a frightened whisper, much to Carl's dismay.

"The castaway, he spoke of a creature, neither beast nor man, but something monstrous living behind that wall," Lumpy answered.

"Sure, sure boys, a lion or a tiger. A man-eater, that's how all these stories start." Dehnam laughed off, although you could hear a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"What _else _did he say?" Preston continued, ignoring Carl's rant.

"Nothing, we found him the next morning, he'd stuck a knife through his heart." Hayes stated simply.

There was an abrupt silence. May gripped the wall for support.

"Sorry fellas'! Monsters belong in B movies!" She heard Carl get up to leave.

May shifted closer to the door, wanting to hear more.

"If you find this place," Hayes interrupted his exit, "If you go ashore with your friends and your cameras... you won't come back, just so long as you understand that."

She peaked through the door, watching for Dehnam's response, but instead she found her eyes meeting with someone else's.

May backed away from the door, she had heard enough. She turned around and walked quickly back to her room, not waiting to hear another word.

* * *

"You'll have to do better then that, boys," Dehnam laughed as he walked out of the galley, Preston following closely behind, "Now where the devil is May?" He mumbled as he walked farther from the room.

A deep feeling of regret haunted Jimmy's mind as he followed Hayes outside of the galley. He had known for a few days now of the real destination of the Venture. But he had been too afraid to tell May, he didn't want to dampen her cheerful spirit.

But now she knew, he had seen her standing right outside of the door and it was most likely that she had heard every single word that they had said. The look on her face had explained it all. She looked confused, frustrated- hurt.

He loathed Dehnam for making it unaware to her. It made it seem like no big deal, but from what he heard from Mr. Hayes, the place they were going was dangerous. If anything bad happened to May, he would never let him forget.

Just the thought of it made Jimmy cringe.

He stopped walking, falling behind from the other two ahead.

"Jimmy?" The voice brought him from his thoughts.

He looked up to Mr. Hayes, who had stopped at the end of the hallway.

"Sorry Mr. Hayes," He looked down to the ground, "I...I'll be right back."

He gave the young teen a questioning look, "Alright then, I expect you up deck soon though; we need to prepare for the rough weather."

Jimmy nodded hurriedly, changing directions and rushing back down the hallway.

His heartbeat picked up, nervousness getting the better of him. That last look she had given him in the galley had made his chest ache, although he wasn't so sure why. Now his worried mind was imagining the worst possible scenario. He couldn't lose her, he needed her. She was his best friend.

Jimmy stopped abruptly when he recognized the door to her room. He took a deep breath and knocked softly three times.

* * *

There was a soft knock at the door. May's hand slipped and her camera fell from her hands.

"Dammit," She cursed, bending down to carefully retrieve her camera, "I'm busy!" She yelled out harshly.

The room remained silent as she investigated every side of the camera, checking for any scratches or cracks.

There was another knock at the door, this time a bit louder than before.

May stood up, placing her camera gently on the bed, before facing the door.

"What do you want?" She asked in an annoyed tone, as she swung the door open. "Oh..," She looked awkwardly to the curious face standing outside her room, "Jimmy."

"May," She could tell by the look in his eyes that he was worried, "Are... are you alright?"

She forced a smile, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be."

"Oh...well alright," He still looked unconvinced, "I just wanted to make sure..."

"Is that all?" She asked quickly, avoiding his gaze.

Jimmy nodded slowly, "I guess so."

"Alright well, I'll see you around," May attempted to close the door quickly, but Jimmy stuck his arm out before it could close.

"May?"

She cursed silently, "Yes?" She responded from behind the door.

"Can I... come in?" Jimmy asked hesitantly, "Just to talk?"

May was startled by this question, but felt that she couldn't refuse. She opened the door completely again, giving him a slightly happier smile, "Sure."

She moved to the side, letting him enter the room.

"Um...watch your step," She laughed nervously.

His eyes immediately widened at the amount of open suitcases that covered almost the entire floor. There were various books on the floor and camera cases lining the corners of the wall.

She looked at him innocently, "I'm kinda...well, unorganized," She chuckled.

Jimmy raised an eyebrow at her, "Really? I didn't notice." He gave her a crooked smile.

May walked over by her bed and began to clear everything off of it. After placing the cameras cases safely away from the bed, she jumped onto the edge, patting a spot beside her, "What did you wanna talk about?"

He made his way over slowly, "Oh, um well..." He scratched the back of his head, and looked as if he was thinking of something to say. Then he noticed something lying on the ground, "Is that a scrapbook?"

May followed his eyes to the ground, where there was a scrapbook she had been looking through earlier. She reached down and picked it up, placing it gently on her lap.

"Yeah," She said softly, "These are my favorites."

Jimmy sat down beside her, "Could I see them?" He asked, seemingly interested.

She looked up to him, giving him a surprised smile, "Of course... although I warn you, most of them probably aren't very good," She opened to the first page of the book, which displayed her name.

"I didn't know your last name was Beaulieu" He exclaimed, "May Beaulieu," He said dramatically, "Pretty name for a pretty girl." He gave her a cheeky grin.

May giggled, attempting not to blush, "Merci monsieur."

"Huh?" Jimmy asked, obviously not very aware of the French language.

"Never mind," She laughed, patting him on the shoulder, "Now do you want to see the photos or not?"

"Yes please," He grinned.

She turned the page slowly, revealing various photos of the tall New York skyscrapers. A lit up sign on Broadway, holding the name of a famous play. A man and woman wearing expensive clothing, laughing and holding hands as they walked down the busy street. A man sitting on the concrete stairs outside of a pub, exhaling smoke from his thick cigar.

Jimmy moved closer to her, his head hovering over her shoulder. He put his hand over hers, on the corner of the page, and he turned to the next page of photographs.

His hand traced a photo of the New York shore, the sunset in the distance. He turned his head slightly and watched her examining her own work, "They're beautiful." He said quietly into her ear, making the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She felt her cheeks burning as he moved her hand to turn the page once more.

Jimmy moved slowly through the pages of the scrapbook, looking at every detail of the photographs. Until he noticed a photograph of a young woman, who looked to be in about her mid-twenties, she had long brown hair and bright green eyes, she looked so familiar. But what confused him the most was the date on the photograph, 1914. May almost immediately noticed his curiosity.

"I... didn't take that one." She said in a small whisper.

"She..." He paused, wondering if he should pry any further, "Looks like you."

She laughed sadly, "You really think so? Well I guess that's only expected since she's my mother."

Just then, he realized there was small printing underneath the photograph, he squinted.

_Marie Grace Beaulieu._

May turned that page again, revealing many more photographs of the young woman, this time there were also pictures of a man, who looked to be around the same age.

"This is my father," She told him calmly, a small distant smile creeping upon her face.

Jimmy remained silent, giving her time to continue. Thunder echoed throughout the room, making up for the silence that filled the small room.

"He joined the War in the spring of 1917; I was only two years old at the time." She paused, "My mother received the letter in June of the next year, but it wasn't for three more years that I found out he wasn't coming home."

May blinked away the tears that were forming the corners of her eyes, she needed to be strong. She had never told anyone other than Thomas about what had happened to her parents. For some reason though, she felt like she could trust Jimmy.

"Just three months shy of my eleventh birthday, my mother became sick. The doctor told us that it was nothing too serious, with plenty of rest she would be back on her feet in no time." Jimmy's hand intertwined with hers, "But she just kept getting worse. They didn't understand why, but it seemed like emotionally she didn't have the strength to get better." She took a moment to flip the page, revealing a photograph with the young man and woman, a small child was sitting on the woman's lap, "She was sick for so long. The doctors said she died of- of the sickness, but even in my naive eleven year old mind I knew the truth."

Jimmy's arm was now wrapped around her shoulder protectively. A fresh tear escaped her eye, slowly moving down her pale cheek. May rested her head on his shoulder, the smell of the sweet ocean air alerting her senses, the scent strong on his jacket.

"She waited so long for him to come back, and I was young, I never knew what to say to her." She continued quietly, "I told her that I loved her, that I would never leave her, but that never seemed to be enough."

Jimmy's free hand began to stroke her hair, giving her a strange sense of comfort. No one knew anything about her family, not even Thomas could get a word out of her. May never had any friends that she could tell secrets too. She never had a shoulder to cry on. No one to tell her it was going to be okay, that it wasn't her fault.

They sat in a comfortable silence for what seemed like hours. Her eyes had long dried and they were beginning to feel very heavy.

But she didn't dare move; and soon enough, sleep overpowered her.


	7. Passing Of The Storm

**Chapter 7 - The Storm**

May woke to the sound of thunder.

Her eyes opened as soon as the sound met her ears. She bolted upwards and nearly fell from her small bed.

It took her a few moments to remember where exactly she was. Memories from the night before were coming back slowly. She looked around the room cautiously, Jimmy was no where to be found. He must have left soon after she had fallen asleep.

May flushed slightly, embarrassed by her behavior from the night before. She instantly regretted telling him anything, what if he thought differently of her? She usually had her emotions under control; she hadn't intended for anyone to know about her family.

May got up slowly, attempting not to fall over, since the boat was now rocking back and forth much quicker than usual, due to the storm that had now engulfed the boat. She didn't even want to know what it looked like outside. It was already freezing in her room, just the thought of getting soaked in ice cold water sent shivers down her spine.

She dressed quickly in a pair of old black pants and two thick shirts, finishing finally with her grey jacket. She definitely didn't look like a city girl now, she thought to herself; as she looked back at her reflection in the small rusted mirror hanging from the wall.

The rain pounded down on the small window of her room, although she could see absolutely nothing, the darkness too strong for her to look past.

She lit a small lamp and exited the room quickly, desiring to be in the company of others. The darkness made her feel alone.

She walked slowly down the hallway, it was completely empty. Usually there was a person or two wandering through them. Where was everyone?

May heard a sudden smash of glass coming from ahead of her. Not soon after the noise she heard a cry of pain. She walked forward hastily, thinking the worst. She followed the noise and found that it was coming from inside the galley, she twisted the knob impatiently and threw open the door.

The look of terror on May's face completely diminished when she witnessed the scene in front of her.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" She sputtered at the man crouched down on the floor.

The man, whom she instantly recognized as a man everyone called Smith, was holding two broken bottles in his hand, "The rum! The precious rum! I told them morons to tie it down!"

May took a deep breath and relaxed against the doorframe, which turned out to be a bad idea, the sudden rocking of the ship almost swept her off her feet.

"You've got at least twenty more crates of the stuff down below!" She said, exasperated.

"Was the bes' batch, we only drank it on special occasions!" He complained, grasping the now soggy wooden floors.

She rolled her eyes and held her jacket closer to her, "Where did everyone go?"

But Smith was no longer listening to her, he continued to curse to himself and pick up the broken pieces of glass in some sort of attempt to put them back together.

"Crew 'tis battling the storm, the rest are hiding like children in their rooms." A voice behind her inquired.

May turned to find Lumpy in his usual spot over a bubbling pot of his favorite goo, adding mysterious looking ingredients to the concoction.

"Is it bad?" She asked curiously, wondering silently if Jimmy was also up there with the rest of the crew.

"Nothing they ain't seen before, they'll want a nice warm meal when they're finished though, do you mind love?" He gave her one of his signature smirks, and pointed roughly to the pot in front of him.

"Not at all," She couldn't help but smile back, even though on the inside she was worried sick. But as long as she didn't go outside and face the storm she would be alright, for now at least. The thought of Jimmy was still buzzing around in her mind.

May took all the bowls carefully out of the sink in the small and untidy kitchen, making sure they did not fall due to the sudden lurching movements of the steamer.

"How long have they been at it?" She asked quietly, looking for conversation.

"A good three or four hours," He explained, cracking some walnuts with the blunt edge of a knife, "Tha's when it started getting bad, the wors' let up by now though."

May nodded silently, trying to focus of how exactly she could make the porridge in front of her anymore edible.

There was a long silence between the pair, the sound of rain and the cracking of walnuts replacing their voices.

"Lumpy?" May asked finally, her voice timid at first, "Can I ask you a question?"

He looked over at her with his good eye, as if trying to read in her face what exactly her motives were, "Go ahead, mon cherie."

"What do you know about Jimmy?" May blushed at the bluntness of the question, "His past, is what I'm meaning to ask. I mean he's so young, I don't understand why he isn't with his parents, or going to school or something." She rambled on.

He said nothing at first; as May looked up to see his response. He stroked his chin thoughtfully with one hand and sprinkled walnuts into his porridge with the other.

"Mr. Hayes found the boy about four or five years ago. Was hidin' in one of the cages down below, he was hurt bad, and more wild than any of the animals we've kept down there. But the lad has never said a word on it, and nor does he ever intend to." Lumpy said slowly, as if he was finding it very hard to remember.

She said nothing at first; she was still in shock at what he had told her. May had just assumed perhaps he had run away from home, or simply his parents had passed and he came onto the venture for work. But his story seemed so much more tragic, she was ashamed of herself for never before thinking perhaps there was someone else who had it worse off. Who knew what kind of place Jimmy had come from?

The crack of a shell broke her thought. Startled, May looked up from the bowls to Lumpy. He now held a very clever grin on his face.

"What?" She asked, confused by his sudden change in character.

Lumpy chuckled merrily, "Do not worry love your secret is safe with me."

May opened her mouth to question him once more, but what interrupted when he shoved a tray of porridge in her hands. "Bring these up to the captain, he and Mr. Hayes are sure to be hungry." He placed another tray over the bowls, she assumed so that the porridge would not be spoiled by the heavy rains.

May opened her mouth in protest; going outside during a storm did not seem like the cleverest idea.

"You will be fine love; a little rain never hurt anyone. There's a fire going in the captain's room if you want to warm up, just try to stay out of everyone's way." He shooed her off softly with his hand and went back to his porridge.

She opened her mouth once more but quickly closed it, deciding she'd rather not argue. She trusted Lumpy, even though his reasoning wasn't very strong.

May made her way outside, pausing just before the door leading outside. She had trouble enough keeping balance with the tray in her hands, she was sure she would simply drop it as soon as she got out into the rain.

_I can do this. _She repeated to herself, taking a deep breath and opening the door.

As soon as the door opened a crack, an icy cold gust of wind shot into the hallway, sending May into a fit of shivers. She was already regretting this.

The rain was still pounding hard, and, since it was most likely still early in the morning, it was fairly dark. She rushed out onto the deck, trying to remember exactly which way the captain's navigation room was.

Men were hollering to each other over the heavy sounds of rain and the every so often rumble of thunder. May swerved past the men rushing back and forth.

She was already soaked to the bone, damn Lumpy and his nonsense. Was it really that important for the Captain to eat? _Okay stupid question. _But was it really necessary for her to deliver it to him herself?

A sudden pickup of wind sent May falling back. For a moment she thought that the porridge was a forever lost, but suddenly she felt a strong hand on her back, saving her from her fall and leading her towards a small set of stairs.

"Climb these!" The familiar voice made her mind numb for a second, but soon after she followed the orders and climbed the stairs, all with the porridge still safely secure in her arms.

_And Jimmy said I was nothing but a city girl. _She thought triumphantly to herself.

Once she reached the top she hurried quickly over to the door to the navigation room, not even bothering to knock first.

May sighed happily to find that it indeed was very warm in the room, although the fact that she was soaking wet wasn't exactly helping her stay warm.

"Ms Beaulieu?" A deep voice inquired.

May looked up from her soaking wet hair to reveal Mr. Hayes, with the captain close by his side. He looked slightly worried by her appearance, while the captain on the other hand looked slightly amused.

"He..hello," She stuttered as her body attempted to keep warm, "Lum…Lumpy told me to br…br…bring up the porridge."

"We can see that," Englehorn chuckled, motioning towards the fire, "I'm afraid I have nothing very comfortable for you to sit on, but the fire should warm you up in no time."

She nodded stiffly and set down the porridge on the table in the large room. Walking over to the fire, she noticed how interesting the room was; this had to be the only area of the ship she hadn't seen yet. There were maps and compasses lined up across the tables beside the controlling wheel.

Englehorn and Mr. Hayes were talking in low whispers, too quickly for her to understand. They seemed to be arguing quietly about something.

May leaned against the wall and slid slowly to the ground with her legs crossing in the process. The fire was definitely warm, but her soaked clothing certainly weren't helping her body absorb any of the heat.

"…nothing out there!" May heard Mr. Hayes say quietly in frustration.

"Then we have nothing to lose." Englehorn responded, much louder this time.

Mr. Hayes looked at a loss for words, at what his captain was saying, but nonetheless he nodded, "Very well then." And with that he grabbed his porridge and made his way into the next room.

May tried not to look like she was eavesdropping on their conversation, but she was trying desperately to discover what exactly they were talking about. Did this have anything to do with the so called 'Skull Island'?

She trailed the goose bumps forming on her arm, lost completely in thought.

"Something is bothering you." It was a statement, not a question.

She looked up to find light blue eyes looking directly into hers.

"I'm just confused is all," She stated simply, before continuing on courageously, feeling the captains curious gaze on her, "I feel as if I'm being kept in the dark."

Englehorn did not give her a warm laugh, like he usually did. Instead he had a worried look on his face, she tried very hard to decipher what exactly he was thinking.

"You should not worry about such things," He said a little too harshly, leaving May a little taken back.

The captain turned and looked towards the open sea, the rain was starting to calm.

May sat motionless, surprised by Englehorn's words.

"I am sorry; it has been a long night." May watched as he put a hand to his face.

"I understand of course, you must be very tired." May said calmly, although she felt very much embarrassed, she had not meant to upset him.

A silence filled the room; Englehorn had busied himself with a map that was set out in front of him.

"The rain has stopped, you may return to the galley if you wish. You should get some food to warm you up." Englehorn said casually.

May stood up quickly, a little too quickly, sending her blood rushing to her feet. She staggered for a moment, before resting her hand against the wall to balance herself.

She moved towards the door, resting her hand on the knob. She turned back quickly, "Good night captain." She turned the handle and opened the door.

"May," He responded suddenly, she was surprised, although slightly honored that he had used her first name, she turned to face him, with a questioning look.

"N'inquietes pas les jeune un," Englehorn gave her a reassuring smile, "And that is good morning to you." He stated, looking towards the horizon, which was surely enough, starting to brighten.

May grinned in return, and made her way outside.

* * *

Everyone was still sleeping by the time May had gotten back to the galley. Even Lumpy was no where in sight, but the pot of porridge was still warm and had a generous amount left in it. She scooped some into a bowl and sat in one of the empty chairs, eating slowly, to make sure she wouldn't choke on any shells Lumpy accidentally forgot to remove.

The storm was over.

Suddenly the door barged open, and a dark figure walked inside, closely the door quickly behind him, so that the cold air of the hallway would not make its way inside the warmer room.

"Jimmy!" She couldn't contain her amusement in seeing her good friend again.

He, very much like her, was soaking wet. He looked more comfortable with it than she had been though, most likely because he had experienced weather like this many times before; and probably even worse.

Jimmy turned to face her. After hearing her call his name, a huge grin spread across his face, adding some warmth to his body. May returned the gesture, forgetting that she was freezing, she stood up and ran over, hugging him tightly, before realizing that he was about ten times colder than she was.

"Yikes! Jimmy you're freezing!" She backed a step away, bringing her arms up to her chest.

Jimmy chuckled, scratching the back of his head innocently. "What can I say, it _is_ December."

She laughed warmly, pushing his arm playfully, "I was worried about you," Her smile lessened, becoming more serious.

But at this his smile only grew bigger, "And why exactly is that?"

May opened her mouth to say something, but stopped suddenly, looking to the ground. "It was stupid of me," She chuckled, "I guess I just worry too much." She told him slowly, looking down at her fidgeting hands.

But he didn't look convinced. Then he did something she did not expect.

Jimmy softly put his hands over hers.

"You _do_ worry too much," He began slowly, looking down at her. Suddenly the space between them was not as far, "Your hands are cold."

May looked up at him through her eyelashes, relaxing her hands slightly. He intertwined his fingers with hers.

"You make me happy," May blurted out thoughtlessly, she reddened as she realized what just came out of her mouth. Jimmy looked down at her, his eyebrow raised in amusement.

"Wha…what I mean to say, is that I like being around you," She started, cursing her nervousness silently, "You make me forget, forget everything terrible that's happened in my life, you help me remember that it doesn't have to end at that. I'm…I'm happy that I found my way on this ship. Regardless of where it started or where it's going, I'm happy that I met you."

Jimmy said nothing, she was going to scare him away, she was sure of it. She didn't want to loose him.

But his hands were still caressing hers.

"I'm sorry," She began suddenly, "I know you probably don't feel the same…"

May was interrupted by a pair of lips softly brushing hers. Never had she experienced the happiness that she was at this very moment. She kissed him back softly, her hands freeing from his and making their way to his neck. His arms wrapped around her middle, bringing her closer to him. She played with the hair at the nape of his neck.

May never wanted to let go, but she needed to take a breath. She released her mouth from his.

They both stared at each other in silence, their deep breathing filling in the lack of speech.

Jimmy rested his forehead against hers, never breaking eye contact. He swept a strand of hair away from her cheek.

No words were needed. She understood.


	8. The Arrival

**A/N - Wow, so this chapter is definitely long overdue, perhaps the fact that it's the longest chapter so far will make up for it? No? haha  
I have gone through and edited each chapter, not to mention added many new scenes, so If you've read the rest of the story so far  
you may want to give it a quick re-read. I'm sorry for the long absence, although this story is very important to me (I WILL finish it)  
I have many other things in my life at the moment that are more important. Hopefully my sudden inspiration decides to stick around a little longer than last time! I would also greatly appreciate reviews, they really do motivate me! Thanks! - JT **

**Chapter 8 - The Arrival**

The next five days passed with nothing out of the ordinary occurring. May had been spending as much time with Jimmy as she could. Just the other day he had showed her how to tie different types of knots, and how exactly they worked. In return she had been trying to explain to him how cameras took photographs, and how exactly to use one, May even let him take some photos.

At the moment, she was sitting in her room with an empty stomach. Lumpy had decided to be slightly adventurous with tonight's dinner, and she was fairly certain she did not want to take part in his latest creation.

May hadn't had the chance to visit Jimmy at all that day, Englehorn had him up in the crow's nest. The reason for him being up there she didn't exactly know, but she had an idea.

So she laid on her bed, dressed in her warmest clothing, listening to the sound of the crashing waves. She tried to relax but the truth was that she was extremely anxious.  
May had overheard The captain and Dehnam arguing the other day. Wherever they were going, she was certain they were fairly close.

What if Mr. Hayes was right? What if the island they were going to was truly as horrible as he explained it. What if someone got hurt, or worse?

May stood up quickly, running a hand through her long hair. She bit her lip and decided her next move. She grabbed her jacket and abandoned her cabin.

"Good evening missy," One of the friendly crewmen said on her way up on deck.

She nodded in response, "Same to you Louis, how's the weather holding up?"

"Aye, getting chilly. Seems as if a fog is rollin' in, be careful up there missy," He chuckled as he walked past her and into the galley.

Well that was a comforting thought, hopefully that didn't mean another storm was coming their way.

The wind outside was very light, almost unnaturally so compared to other nights. Only a few men were working, there didn't seem to be much to do.

"Hello Martin," May said warmly as she approached the tall man, they had become good friends throughout the course of the trip.

"Hullo there lassie!" He welcomed in a thick scottish accent, "What kind o' mischief are ya up ta this time, eh?"

May raised an eyebrow at the man, in which he responded with only a chuckle, and then lit the end of his cigarette.

"You shouldn't smoke so often, I hear that it's terrible for your health." She said knowingly, as she parted the smoke away with a gloved hand.

"Comin' from a lass who's never tried one!" He gave a great bellow of laughter, which quickly turned into a great fit of coughs.

"And never planning on it," She rolled her eyes, patting him gently on the back, "Say, have you seen Jimmy?" May asked, even though she was almost certain that she knew where he was.

Martin continued to cough, pointing up to the crow's nest, which was slowly becoming engulfed in the fog.

"Thanks," She laughed softly, "I'll guess I'll talk to him later then."

He waved her off and started to walk away, hopefully to get a glass a cool water for his sore throat. She never understood why people smoked those disgusting things, it was an awful habit and the stench really was horrible.

"_Jimmy doesn't smoke,"_ She thought somewhat proudly to herself, looking around to check if the coast was clear. Everyone seemed to be focused in whatever small task they were doing, so she assumed she was safe.

With a deep breath and a burst of courage she began to climb up the unsteady rope, thankful that it was not a very windy day.

May was never really afraid of heights, just of the fact that she could fall to her untimely death at any given moment.

She tried hard not to look down and soon enough she was at the top of the rope, around the edge of the nest. She peered over the edge and found something she hadn't expected.

He was sleeping! Jimmy gets the easiest job on the ship and manages to fall asleep while doing it. May rolled her eyes and brought herself over the metal edge and into the nest, trying her hardest not to wake him up. He looked very peaceful, his head resting on the wall of the nest and a book still open in his hands.

May looked down to the title of the book.

_Heart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad._

She had never heard of the story before, but was intrigued by the title, it sounded more like a love story than any adventure or action story; which was the genre she had thought he'd be more likely to read. She reached over to the book and try to grab it.

"Hn..uh..." Jimmy mumbled sleepily, his eyes starting to open. May with drawled her hand and shoved it into her pocket.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bacey," May exclaimed quietly, smiling at his tired face.

"Where?" He sat up straight, his book falling to the ground.

May only chuckled in response, amused by his reaction.

Jimmy looked over to her and sighed, but she saw the slight grin on his face, "Don't even kid about that," He mumbled, "Haven't had bacon in the longest time." He looked over to her with a playful smile, which faded quickly into a panicked look, "What the hell are you doing up here?"

"I was bored," May explained dully with a pout, "I wanted to see you, you're more fun than all the old chaps down there."

Jimmy calmed down somewhat, picking his now wrinkled book off the ground and sticking it in his pocket, "You could have spent time with Ann, I though you liked her." He continued.

"She's with Jack again," May yawned, covering her mouth, "Those two are fun on their own, but just plain boring when they're together."

Jimmy grinned knowingly, the bond formed between the two had not gone unnoticed by any of the crew.

"I mean, if you really don't want me up here, I could leave," May began to get up but Jimmy shoved her back down.

"That's not it," He started hastily, running a hand through his light hair, "Just don't want you getting hurt, its a long fall from here you know."

May paled at his words, "Don't remind me, It's going to take me at least another hour for me to work up the courage to go down again."

Jimmy chuckled lightly, and scooted over so he was sitting next to her, "No worries May, I wouldn't let anything happen to you. I'm happy you're up here anyways, I was getting bored as well."

She blushed at his words, "I could tell, falling asleep on the job?" She teased.

"Just resting my eyes," He looked at her with an innocent expression, "I've been up here for hours you know."

"I know," She breathed deeply, before deciding to change the subject, "It's really quite chilly out, you're crazy to only wear a thin jacket."

"Use to it," He explained briefly with a concerned frown, "Are you cold? You can have my scarf if you'd like."

"No, no," She shook her head, "I'm fine," May assured him.

"No you're not," He smirked, before unwrapping the black woolen scarf from around his head.

"Really Jimmy! I'm more concerned for you." She put her hand up in protest.

"And why is that?" He asked playfully, cocking his head to the side.

May put down her hand and looked directly into his eyes, not knowing exactly what to say. Taking the opportunity, Jimmy leaned forward and began to wrap the scarf around her head.

May looked up in surprise, only to find his face inches away from hers. Her face reddened in embarrassment, he was watching her quite closely, amusement clear in his eyes.

He began to close the distance between them, cupping her face softly with his hand. May parted her lips unconsciously, feeling the heat radiating off the skin of the young man in front of her.

"Station the for' head lookout, and get me the depth by lead-line!"

As quickly as the moment was there, it was gone.

Jimmy looked up in surprise, distracted by what the Captain of the ship was saying.

May took a deep breath, "What exactly is he talking about?" She asked in a shaky laugh.

Jimmy did not smile back, "He wants me to be on the lookout for any sign of land around us, I think we're almost there." He seemed anxious over this sudden development.

"I..I thought that Mr. Hayes had said it would be at least another three days," She stammered quietly.

"Guess he was wrong," He sighed, running a hand nervously through his hair, before looking over to her, "You should go down, Englehorn won't be too pleased if he sees you up here."

"Yeah, you're probably right" May sounded slightly disappointed, as she stood up and held steadily onto the rope, "Be safe, 'kay?"

Jimmy couldn't help but smile at the worried look on her face, "I'll be fine, just be careful on the way down."

He took her hand and helped her get over the edge of the metal bar, May's hand still tightly gripping on the rope beside her. She looked down quickly, the fog was so thick she could hardly see the bottom, she was certain that no one could even see them while they were up this high.

Suddenly Jimmy's arm was around her waist, she looked up and realized that she had slowly been tilting her body to the side. She flushed in embarrassment, his body was now tightly against hers.

"Woah, watch yourself," He chuckled, "Probably better if you don't look down." He whispered.

"Yeah," May whispered back, biting her lip in nervousness.

Jimmy didn't let go, temporarily caught up in the moment, he took a strand of her hair and tucked it gently behind her ear. He brought his mouth down so that his lips were nearly brushing hers.

"That's a lovely color on your cheeks," He teased in a light whisper, his lips coming in slight contact with hers.

May didn't respond, placing her hand gently on the small of his back. He gently pushed his lips into hers, softly as first. May placed her other other hand on his chest, slowly snaking it up to his neck and finally into his light hair. He suddenly added more force, a sense of urgency, driven by the lust radiating off the couple. A light moan escaped May's mouth as he bit her bottom lip gently. She caught herself and pushed her head back, embarrassed by her breaking of the silence.

But Jimmy only chuckled lightly, his eyes still staring down at her lips, "No need to be embarrassed," He assured her, giving her another light kiss, "I'm glad I make you feel that way," He whispered softly in her ear.

May couldn't help but laugh as well and he gave her a cheeky grin, "I'm leaving for good this time, come visit me after wards?" She asked, "I'll probably be in the galley until all this is over with." May had no desire to see the island right now, if they really were there.

"Of course," He responded happily.

May gave him a quick peck on the cheek than began to climb down the ropes. She made sure not to look down, knowing she would probably regret it.

"Thirty fathoms, no bottom captain!" She heard one of the crewmen shout, his voice echoing over the empty waters.

Did that mean that they _weren't_ there after all?

She continued down the rope and was glad when her feet finally touched the wooden ground.

May looked around at her surroundings, everyone of the crewmen were at their stations, too busy with what they were doing to even notice her climb down from the crows nest.

"Hold on sir! We have sea bed!" The crewman yelled finally.

May couldn't help but suppress a look of shock. She looked around for someone that she recognized and saw Preston standing with the same shocked look, staring ahead of the boat. Looking for something.

"Twenty-five fathoms!"

"Preston, whats going on? What are they saying?" May asked hurriedly.

"It shallowing," He explained, "We're almost there." Without another word he rushed away, to her guess to find Dehnam.

"Another reading!" May heard the captain yell from the front of the ship, "Another reading!" He shouted aggressively when he got no response.

"Twenty-two fathoms!" The crewman finally answered, May saw Hayes up at the front of the ship, talking quickly to the man who was now lifting the rope out of the water as a hurried pace.

"Jack!" May exclaimed, looking over to her friend who suddenly appeared from below the deck.

"May, whats going on?" He asked desperately, seeing the crew hurrying back and forth on the ship.

"They found sea bed, I think we're here," She responded quickly, "You should find Ann." She continued when she noticed the blond was not with him.

Jack only nodded and proceeded back down the stairs into the hallway.

The lights on the ship immediately went out, leaving the ship to wander almost blindly through the thick fog. May grasped onto whatever she could find around her, which happened to be the side railing of the ship.

Silence filled the ship for a moment at the crew stood helpless, waiting for the next order from their captain.

"Wall! There's a wall ahead!" A terrified voice shouted.

May looked up in horror to see a figure through the dense fog, pointing in the way in front of the ship.

The entire crew panicked, securing ropes and holding onto to whatever they had near them.

The ship lurched forward, causing May to fall forward onto the metal bar. She managed to get back up and realized that Captain Englehorn must have stopped the ship. But the Venture was still gliding onward through the water. They were going to crash.

"Hold on tight lassie!" A voice on the ledge above her shouted down. But May wasn't listening, she looked towards the front of the ship. Sure enough she could see it. A wall of rock, so tall it looked as if it went directly into the sky. She stared, horrified by the slight, she had never seen anything like it.

"May!" The voice knocked her out of her daze, she saw a running form and soon enough a strong arm was wrapped tightly around her.

The ship approached the wall of rock and scraped against the side, the sickening sound of the metal and rock clashing echoed throughout the water around them. The venture was old enough as it was, if it took too much damage it would surely sink.

May lurched forward suddenly, but the strong arm caught her when she stumbled backwards.

The blow to the Venture caused it to swing on an angle, leaning towards the dangerous waters. Ocean waves sprayed the side of the deck, soaking anyone in its path. May looked up quickly and saw the kind but stony face of Mr. Hayes, how he managed to get over to her so quickly, she did not know.

"Don't worry, it's not that bad, nothin' the captain can't handle," He said soothingly. It was at that moment that she probably noticed how frightened she looked, her eyes wide in fear and her hand gripping tightly on his arm.

Another wall of water crashed down on the deck, leaving both of them drenched with freezing water. The boat stopped rocking eventually, stuck in an awkward angled position. The crew were already running around in panic, seeing how much damage their ship had actually taken.

Mr. Hayes turned her around and looked her right in the eye, "It be best if you went down to your room, there's not much you can do right now," He explained quickly, "It's going to be pretty hectic up here for awhile, but we'll have this old steamer running again in no time."

She nodded slowly and removed her hand from his arm. He gave her a kind smile and hurried away to help his crew mates.

May walked quickly down the stairs into the hallway, her mind still having trouble focusing on the current situation. Never had she been in such a frightening situation before. She felt completely helpless.

"Everything that isn't completely screwed down to the ground goes over!" She heard the distinct voice of Lumpy yell from the galley. They were trying to stabilize the ship, from her guess. When she turned the corner, past where all the crewmen were bustling about, she saw Carl and Preston speaking heatedly.

"Ah, May," Dehnam noticed her as she approached, ignoring Preston who tried to continue his argument, "We're going over to the island as soon as Ann is ready, I expect you on the deck ready to go in ten minutes, uh, Preston here will come get you and escort you to the lifeboats."

Preston only frowned, "I'm fairly certain I can find my way to the lifeboats on my own Carl," She protested, unsure of why he was acting so strange.

"No no I insist, now not another word, go get ready!" He waved her off, and turned back to Preston.

May walked by them, with the strong sense that something else was going on that she didn't know about. As she clicked her door shut she heard them continue argue in quickened angry voices; as if she had never interrupted.

After changing into a thick woolen scarf and warm sweater, she put on her favorite gray jacket and finally Jimmy's black scarf that he had given her. Luckily for her it hadn't gotten too wet while she was outside. It really did warm her up. She buried her face in the soft material, it smelt like him. She prayed that he was alright, if anything happened to him, she didn't know if she could go on.

May packed two of her favorite cameras into her traveling bag and tucked in a small portable tripod, along with ten rolls of film. That would be more than enough, at least she hoped it would.

May went to blow out the candle she had lit in her room, but noticed something out of place, her album was not sitting in its usual place on top of her small dresser. She looked around in panic, only to sigh when she noticed it laying there on the ground in front of her. She picked up the thickly bounded book, looking for any damage to the photographs.

Her mothers soft eyes stared back into hers. Smiling brightly, the arm of her lover draped protectively over her shoulder.

May took out the photograph and folded it in a clean half. She didn't care if it was bent, scratched or stained. She needed this right now.

She put the small fold square into the pocket of her coat and blew out the candle.

* * *

_A young girl of about ten or eleven entered the dark, damp room. Her face was tired and pale, a lack of proper nutrition and sleep definitely being the cause of this appearance. She opened the dark windows and let what little light there was on this dreary winter day, shine through and onto the cool wooden floorboards._

_"Dr. Arnold came by earlier yesterday," The girl said in a soft voice, turning to the unmoving body on the bed, "He wanted to speak to you but I told him you were too tired." She continued._

_The laying body did not respond._

_"Mama, I know you're tired, but if you do not eat, you won't get any better." She sighed, looking down at the uneaten bowl of porridge on the nightstand._

_The young girl sighed and approached her mother, "Mama, are you even listening to-" She lifted the covers off the bed._

_Her eyes were open, but staring only into darkness. Her skin pale and cold._

_She had spoken to her that morning, she told her she was feeling better, that maybe she would be up to go out for some fresh air later that day. Then she told her she loved her and wanted to sleep._

_But her mother was no longer the person laying in front of her._

_May Beaulieu stood in confusion, staring into the empty eyes of the woman who was once her mother._

_"Mama?"_

_Empty prescription bottles lay lonely on the table next to the bed._


	9. Abandon Ship

_**Please Review!**_

* * *

The deck was complete and utter chaos. The crew rushed down the stairs to check the damage. They had taken a bad hit, and it was more than likely that the ship was slowly filling with water.

Jimmy was just happy to be alive; the crow's nest definitely wasn't the safest place to be during a dangerous situation such as the one that had just passed. He touched his feet to the deck, finishing his descent down from the nest.

"Stan!" He yelled at his older friend, who was running past him, "Stan! What's going on? Is everyone okay."

"Aye boy, everyone's fine, 'cept the venture of course," He hurried towards the stairs, "Gotta' help," He mumbled, and with that he disappeared down below.

Jimmy though, ran in the opposite direction. As much as he would have loved to believe his friend, he couldn't help but worry.

He stopped in front of May's door, remembering his manners and knocking three times hurriedly. "May?" He called out, but no one responded. Jimmy decided against his better judgment and opened the door without an answer. No one was inside. But he did noticed it was somewhat less cluttered than it usually was, her camera and bags missing, and her leather bound album lay open on her bed.

Jimmy looked closer, bending over and picking up the leather book. The page was blank, with only a small caption underneath.

"Anne Marie Beaulieu and Franklin Beaulieu, 1917"

Jimmy closed the book quickly, why would May removed a photograph of her mother and father from her album? This photo meant so much to her. Unless she had it with her of course, but why would she take it out now of all times?

At that moment he noticed a crumpled piece of thick paper on the ground near the edge of the bed. He grabbed the paper and straightened it, revealing the faces of a smiling couple, holding hands and looking happily into the cameras lens.

Jimmy sat on his bed in a daze; it seemed most unlike her to deface a photograph of her parent, but their seemed to be no other plausible excuse. No one from the crew would dare enter her room knowing the wrath they would face if the captain found out.

His gaze went back to the bare spot where she once kept her cameras.

A sudden thought hit him, and within ten seconds he bounded back up the steps to the deck, stuffing the photograph into his shallow pocket.

"What's the damage?" Thomas Englehorn yelled over the men yelling and the rushing water.

"The ships taken a beating, sir," Hayes yelled back in response, rushing to reach the captain through the maze of men.

"Captain!" The familiar voice of the young man met their ears. Jimmy bounded down the stairs and stopped halfway down, "Captain! You better come see this." He said hurriedly.

The captain was no in the mood for any more surprises. He rushed closely behind the young man in front of him, only one thought coming to mind.

"Dehnam," He hissed under his breath.

As they rounded the corner towards the front of the ship, he noticed about half of the space lifejackets from the compartment laying on the deck.

"What the hell?" He whispered furiously, before looking out into the water.

They were about twenty meters off the ships now, in two of his lifeboats. Dehnam and his little crew, not to mention four of his own men sat closely, rowing steadily towards the shore. He was disappointed to see the two women also boarded with the men. He knew this island wasn't safe, hell; they had almost died getting to it.

"What should we do captain?" Jimmy's voice sounded panicked, his face showing concern. Englehorn was aware that the boy had taken a liking to the girl, Beaulieu. He had to admit, he wouldn't like to her, or Ms. Darrow injured, but he was the captain of this ship, and he had to do what was best for them all. They had gone against his word and he would not be responsible for their mistakes.

"You want me to bring them back?" Mr Hayes asked the Captain quietly.

'I don't give a damn about Carl Denham, I want this ship fixed and ready to float on the next high tide." He turned to face Mr Hayes, "We're leaving Mr Hayes." He said sternly.

"Captain!" Jimmy said pleadingly.

But he did not listen, rushing back to help his men.

"There's nothing we can do for now, Jimmy" Hayes said quickly, "We need your help right now, she'll be fine."

* * *

Jimmy looked up at his mentor, and nodded, but he still looked slightly worrisome. The last look she had given him, imprinted in his mind.

May watched as Jimmy yelled at them from the deck, but everyone else ignored him. May was too ashamed to respond. She hadn't wanted to come along, but in the end it came down to what she was really there to do, to help Carl and everyone else make a movie, and she couldn't back out now.

Besides, she really did need the money; she had hardly enough money to even through rent. But the excuse made her feel like she had betrayed him.

May didn't break her gaze with him as the life raft floated away, her face completely apologetic.

He responded with a quick look of shock, then finally anger. And with that he was gone, rushing away to tell the captain she assumed.

May had a deep gut wrenching feeling of regret. Only after she got into the lifeboat had she realized that Dehnam hadn't told Englehorn that they were going over to the island; or that they were borrowing his life rafts for that matter. He had found a few of the crewmen that thought it was worth the pretty penny to come along for the journey.

Overall though, she was glad they were coming. No offense to the others, but she wasn't too sure that any of them could fight off something if it tried to attack them; Jack being the only exception maybe, but that was it. Bruce may play a hero in movies, but he looked like a real coward to her.

"Don't look so glum," Thomas clucked his tongue at her, taking a drag of his cigarette as he continued to move the oars through the strong waters.

"That was wrong," She said furiously in a low voice, "You should be glad at least one of us has the right mind to feel remotely bad for leaving unannouced."

May crossed her arms around her camera bag on her lap and looked out into the waters. It was still very sunny outside, but looking back towards the ship that was now so very far away, the dangerously heavy fogs still concealed the island.

"You need to loosen up kid," Bruce said critically, purposely flexing his muscles as he tried harder to keep up with the rowing movement of the others in the small raft, "Aren't you even slightly curious to see whats on the island?"

"Curiousity killed the cat," May stuck out her tongue childishly, "Besides, I'm hardy concerned about the actual island, I'm just worried about what Englehorn will do once he figures out we left."

"What's do you expect him to do? He'll wait until we come back," Bruce exclaimed, not understanding what she was getting at.

"Wouldn't be surprised if they left without us," May murmured, just loud enough for everyone to hear her.

Bruce paled noticeably, "She's joking right?" He said, in a panicked tone.

Thomas only laughed at him.

"Don't think he'd be_ that_ cruel," Mike responded, his voice wavering slightly in doubt.

"What's that suppose to me? He's never been cruel to me or any of you," May said accusingly, "He really is a nice man."

Bruce scoffed quietly, "Yeah sure kid, nicest man I ever did meet," He looked over to the men and pointed to her over his shoulder, "Think the girls gotta' little crush on your captain."

They all laughed loudly at the jest, Thomas only suppressing a grin.

"You're too quick to judge," May rolled her eyes, "Besides, maybe it's just because you guys are a bunch of lazy as-."

"May," Thomas said in a deep, disapprovingly, but she did not listen.

"-Sholes," She finished, adding extra emphasis on the 's'. She beamed proudly at their offended faces.

"Sure this girl didn't grow up on the streets?" Bruce said in distaste as he continued to row offbeat, "What a mouth."

May stopped smiling immediately, and looked back out into the water resting her head on her camera bag.

"Now, now, leave her be," Thomas warned Bruce, "Besides, we all know that there's only one boys for dear old May's eyes." She could hear the smirk in his voice and groaned inwardly.

"Oh yeah, that Jimmy kid," One of the crew members piped up suddenly, a man whose name May did not remember. The other men perked up at this sudden development.

"The boy?" Bruce asked, slightly offended, "Clearly you don't have proper standards."

May tried hard not to laugh at his jealous tone.

"Yeah, saw them snogging in the galley after the storm was through." The man chuckled.

May's head shot up, her face turning red almost instantly, "Liar!"

Thomas only raised his eyebrow at her, "No one's judging you May, besides, the color on your face tells me otherwise."

All the other men laughed again, except Bruce who was still muttering nonsense to himself.

But May wasn't listening anymore; she looked up with wide eyes. They had reached their destination.

* * *

_"You shouldn't stand so close to the fire, you'll burn yourself."_

_The young girl rolled her eyes, "You say that as I wasn't aware of the fact, I'm not stupid Peter."_

_Peter only responded with a smile, pulling his thin coat tighter around his small frame, "I was just worried is all, don't want you to fall in."_

_The two sat silently around the contained fire in the trash can in front of them. It was a particularly silent night, they picked an abandoned alley to seek refuge for the night. It didn't help that it was the middle of winter, and freezing cold outside._

_A steady buzz of distant cars could still be heard, even though it was the middle of the night, New York's energy never seemed to falter._

_"So what did you manage to find today? Or did you eat it all again?" The young girl narrowed her eyes._

_"I told you May! It was a dog!" Peter huffed, folding his arms over his chest in annoyance, "I wish you'd drop that already."_

_"Alright, alright, I'm sorry." May sighed, "I'm just hungry, and it puts me in a rotten mood._

_"I can tell," She heard him mumble, but she ignored him, "Found nothing, a few scraps, but I did see a couple venues near the west side of the park, I think they're open all night, we could probably get away with stealing something."_

_May clucked her tongue, "You know how I feel about stealing Pete."_

_Peter shrugged his shoulders and slid down the length of the wall "Well it's either that or go hungry, or you know, go back to that horrid place, 'sup to you."_

_May didn't respond, although she was sure of one think, she was not going back to the orphanage, she'd rather starve than go back there. She sat silently for a moment, thankful for the looming quiet that helped her think more clearly._

_"You better not get us caught."_

_Peter's face lit up considerably._


	10. Heart Of Darkness

**_Two new chapters in two days? I guess you can say I got a sudden hit of inspiration. I can't believe I started this story almost two years ago. Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed this story. Hopefully I'll get some reviews for this chapter. (Please!)_**

**_Happy New Year to everyone!_**

**_-JT_**

Chapter 10

"Grab my hand," A voice said softly. May looked up to see Thomas standing on the ridged rocks in front of the now settled boats, his arm was outstretched in an offer of help. The crew was busy securing the ropes tied to the front end of the life rafts to the pointed rocks, using secure knots that she had yet to learn in all the six weeks that it had taken to arrive at their destination. She really did need to get on that, she reminded herself casually.

May held out her hands and welcomed his help, lifting her foot slowly onto the dampened surface; in order to keep balanced. She knew that the water was most likely cold even in this more tropical area, and she didn't want to test it by falling in face first.

"Well, this is eerie," May sighed, taking in the gloomy surroundings. They had come to a sort of cave, the life rafts only taking them to the very entrance, where the water eventually became shallower and overall disappeared. The tunnel ahead was dark and soundless, only the constant dripping of water echoing through the narrow space.

The air was extremely thick and humid, quite different from anything she had ever experienced in the city. May removed her thick jacket, losing the feeling of slight suffocation that came to her within the tight woolen fabric, and threw it back into the boat behind her, assuming it would be safe and wouldn't bother her while she was taking photographing. She decided to keep Jimmy's scarf around her neck, regardless of how hot it may be, she felt safer with it on.

"C'mon, we're losing time," Denham said briefly, "Herb, May, have equipment ready just in case." And with that he began to lead the group up the narrow passage. All of them followed curiously, observing the scene warily, it was unlike anything they had ever seen before.

"You're right May, this place gives me the creeps," Ann said quietly, sticking close to Jack's side; an unconscious act that gave May a brief sense of envy. But she shook it off, focusing on the reason why she was here in the first place.

May followed after the two of them, with Thomas and one of the crew members following closely behind. For a moment the sound of water was all to be heard, but a sudden gasp caused the entire group to look back in surprise.

"Dear god," Ann breathed, tightening her grip on Jack's arm.

May followed her eyes to the ground and noticed what exactly it was that caused the alarm in her voice.

Skulls and bones littered the dimly lit floors of the cavern; human remains.

"What kind of place is this Denham?" Baxter asked skeptically as he raised an eyebrow, droplets of sweat beginning to form on his temple.

Preston noticed Denham's wordless response and cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Must be some kind of ancient burial ground," He attempted casually, although a slight waver could be heard in his voice.

May rolled her eyes, "Don't they have to be buried for it to burial ground," She muttered to no one in particular as they cautiously continued on their way.

When they finally made their way to the end of the cavern they came upon another problem, the area of land they were standing on could only access the rest of the land of the island if they crossed a thin rope bridge. Who knew how long it had been there for? The rope could have weakened with age.

"Do you think it's strong enough?" Jack asked thoughtfully, kicking a stone over the edge of the tall land. It was at least twelve feet off the ground, and the jagged rocks at the bottom didn't look very inviting.

"Good question!" Denham turned around swiftly and faced one of the older crew members, "Ralph, my dear friend, care to go first?" He moved to the side and stretched his arms out in an invitation for him to pass.

Ralph looked less than pleased, but must have remembered that he was being promised a large sum of money, "The things I do," He said gruffly, approaching the rope bridge, placing a hand over the rope and testing the strength, "Knot's like nothing I've ever seen," And with that he slowly made his way across the bridge, the rope never faltering for a moment. When he finally reached the other side he looked back and gave a thumbs up, "'tis a good strong knot, it won't be letting go anytime soon," He called.

One by one the rest of the film crew crossed the bridge, some taking a little longer than others. May glared at Baxter as he crossed the bridge an inch at a time. He may have played a hero in all of his movies, but when it came to the real thing he was about as courageous as a flea.

May finished the distance quickly, not looking down once, knowing she would definitely regret it.

The pathway from the bridge led to a leaning archway, wooden spears with skulls, as well as crudely made jewelry covering the top surface.

"Gentlemen," Denham looked back and raised an eyebrow to the women of the group, "and ladies, welcome to Skull Island."

They exited through the archway and all stood in awe at the scenery around them. It certainly was a lot to take in.

There were large forts and huts made of wide and obscenely long branches from trees, and everywhere they looked there were skeletons attached by some of the hundreds of spears, whether they were all human or some animal, they were not sure.

And then there was the wall. Made high, and protected by the thick pointed rocks and with large spikes sticking from the top.

_A wall, built to keep it out._

But to protect them from what exactly?

"It's deserted." Preston stated rather obviously with a deep breath, pushing his glasses up from the bridge of his nose as he inspected the land around them.

"Of course it is Preston, use your eyes!" Denham said hastily, as he helped Herb place down the camera, "No one has lived here for hundreds of years." He began to take in shots of the ancient site, cranking the handle of his camera.

May shifted her feet nervously, not exactly confident on her decision to come along after all. As much as she would have liked to have believed Denham, the smell of decomposing fish told her otherwise.

Thomas nudged her arm and began unzipping the bag hanging from her shoulder, "Let's get started then, faster we're done the faster we can leave, right?" He laughed with a slight wink.

Despite her nervousness, May grinned back to her mentor and removed her camera from her bag.

"C'mon Ann, get in the shot," Denham said impatiently, pointing near one of the huts not far ahead.

Ann shrugged her arm off of Jacks and took cautious steps forward, and began to act for the camera the best she could. "Yeah, that's it! Look scared, terrified…" Denham continued filming, his three crew members standing nearby, and ready to help.

May on the other hand began to take photographs of the scenery around them.

"Shots of Ann and Baxter together as well May!" Carl shouted rhythmically with the movement of his hand spinning the film.

May directed her attention over to Ann and Baxter and took a few mediocre shots. But as much as she tried to convince herself she was wrong, she couldn't help but get the feeling that they were being watched.

Ann as well, it seemed was having trouble focusing, "I'm sorry Mr. Denham, it's just-it's just this place…"

"You can do this, just focus A-." He cut off mid-word, his eyes widening as he stopped filming instantly.

Everyone followed his eyes, and to their surprise, saw something incredibly out of the ordinary.

A child, although the gender was hard to decipher, was standing not ten feet away. With the darkest skin May had ever seen, and matted hair covering their unwashed head. Their clothes were made of bark and leaves; natural materials, and their eyes the most peculiar shade of gold, almost unnatural.

The child raised their hand and pointed towards the group, eyes wide open and unmoving.

"So much for deserted," May said slowly, trying to mask her fear with anger, but she was ignored once more.

Carl looked around uncomfortably, but not even Preston could help him this time.

"Now, now, I can take care of this," Denham said sternly, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a crackling aluminum paper. He folded down the paper and revealed a thick slab of chocolate, "You want some chocolate kid?" He said in a false kind tone, approaching the child steadily.

"Mr. Denham," Ann said in an unsure voice, "I think- I think we should go back."

Carl shook the bar in front of the child's face, but they continued to ignore him, perhaps he didn't speak English? Or at least that's what May assumed; for she didn't know single soul who didn't enjoy chocolate.

"Just take the goddamn chocolate," Denham said impatiently, trying to stuff the bar into the child's hand, who finally responded by resisting and fighting back.

"Leave the native alone Carl," Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose, bored by this new predicament; he truly just wanted to be back on that old rusty boat that he disliked so much, anywhere was better than here.

"She doesn't want the chocolate," Jack sighed, trying to coax Denham back over.

"Where are the rest of them?" May heard Mike mumble to himself, a thought that had also been occurring in her mind.

The child continued to flail their arms around, screaming wickedly before finally getting a firm grasp on Carl's wrist. They reached over a bit down hard on the flesh of his arm.

Carl let go instantly, letting the chocolate bar fall to the ground, already long forgotten. He yelped in pain, "It bit me!" He said in disbelief, as though it was the worse he had seen committed. His face reddened with anger and he began to chase after the kid, only to stop short, his hand raised in defense.

Natives suddenly appeared from all angles, sharing similar resemblances to the child in front of them. Only these ones were elder; hair grey instead of black and eyes speckled with white from occurring blindness. All the others appeared crippled or injured in some way; defenseless.

"Alright," Carl said strangely, trying to reassure the rest of the crew, "Just a bunch of women and old folks, they're harmless."

The clouds in the sky had thickened considerably, unnoticed by the crew, a low rumble alerting them of the oncoming rain.

A necklace fell to the ground, aligned with small skulls and painted carved beads.

Rain began to fall lightly from overhead.

A sickening noise filled the empty silence. Bones crunching and splitting, flesh punctured.

Ann Darrow's screams filled the air.

* * *

Jimmy sat quietly against the wall of the ship, his borrowed copy of Heart Of Darkness clutched carefully in his hands; an attempt to distract himself from the current situation.

Suddenly, he stopped reading, closing the book slowly. His eyes were full of confusion, his expression emotionless as he spoke, "Why does Marlow keep going up the river, why doesn't he turn back?"

Mr. Hayes did not look back down to meet Jimmy's curious gaze, "There's a part of him that wants to, Jimmy. A part deep inside himself that sounds a warning, but there's another part, that needs to know, that needs to defeat the thing which makes him afraid."

Hayes turned his head upwards, his eyes drawn up to the menacing face carved crudely into the rock towering above the ship.

"We could not understand, because we were too far," He continued, "And could not remember, because we were too far…and could not remember, because we were travelling in the night of First Ages…"

His gaze shifted to the island looming in the distance.

"Of those ages that are gone, leaving hardly a sign, and no memory."

Mr. Hayes gripped the iron railing lightly, "We are custom to look upon the shackled wall of a conquered monster. But there you could look at the thing monstrous and free."

Jimmy stuffed the book back into his pocket, "It's not an adventure story, is it Mr. Hayes?"

"No Jimmy," He turned back to his young friend, "It's not."

Jimmy looked to the island momentarily, pausing only to ponder what his exact words would be. But when he opened his mouth to speak, Hayes interrupted him.

"You love her don't you?" He could hear the smirk on his face, although his face was clearly out of view.

Jimmy looked wide eyed at Mr. Hayes, who remained facing the other way, "It's a bit early for that don't you think?" He stammered, blushing slightly as he spoke those words.

"You don't live forever Jimmy," Hayes said momentarily, finally turning to face his young friend, "It's never too early."

Jimmy didn't respond with emotions, his mind was still heavy with worry.

A sudden and high scream suddenly echoed through the narrow passage of rocks.

Jimmy stood up in a matter of seconds. It was a girl's voice, he could tell, it was much too high to be male.

"Oh god, oh god." Jimmy muttered harshly, raising a trembling hand to his forehead and through his hair.

Hayes was already gone, rushing to meet the Englehorn outside of his cabin.

"Captain!" Hayes said in a rushed voice, after climbing the ladder quickly.

"I heard it Mr. Hayes," The Captain said quietly, as if he was expecting the sudden alarm all along, "Ready ten of the men, we are going over and bringing them back, then we are getting out of here."

"Yes Captain!" He responded, rushing back down the stairs.

Englehorn when back to his room and to the corner of the room where there sat a large wooden bench, with a red cushioned cover. He lifted the top to reveal a small black case. He removed the pistol from its place and placed it hurriedly in his back pocket, silently hoping he wouldn't have to waste the precious bullets.

"We are getting out of this damned place."

* * *

_**Review Please!**_


	11. Natives

_**Hello again! Hope you like this chapter, it's the longest so far! I would really appreciate it if more people would review though. I've only received two reviews for the past two chapters, and I know for sure that more people have read them. Thanks! Enjoy.**_

Chapter 11 - Natives

_May had never run so fast in her life. She had warned Peter about stealing, and now they were in this situation. She could still hear angry screams behind her, but even so she kept the golden apple clutched tightly in her hand._

_Peter hadn't even attempted to help her, he just ran away; a coward, she knew she would probably never see him again. New York was a busy city after all. This is why she didn't like having friends, they were a nuisance._

_She took a sharp left down an empty alley, never stopping for a moment. She wasn't going to let them_  
_put her back in that horrible place._

_She came to direct dead end, cut off by a tall barb-wire fence. She cursed loudly and looked all over for a means of escaping but knew it would be no good._

_"Looking for a place to hide?"_

_May turned, startled by the voice. Standing in open door of the building beside her was a fairly young woman, with short dark hair and bright brown eyes. A lit cigarette hung out of her smirking mouth, her face clearly showing signs of amusement. What May noticed most of all though, was the fact that this woman was incredibly pregnant._

_May didn't think twice, she booked it past the women in doorway and straight into the building. The room she entered was dark and cold, the only light coming from door leading into another room._

_"Climbed right over the fence, looked like a goddamn monkey," The older woman started speaking to someone else outside of the door. She heard a grumbled response and then heavy footsteps grow further away._

_May sighed in relief and faced the women in the doorway, who continued to smoke her cigarette, ignoring her completely._

_"Well, go on in, it's warm ya' know." The women said suddenly, making May jump upright._

_May nodded silently and entered the next room slowly. She gasped at the contents of the room._  
_Cameras, tripods, lens and other photography equipment sat on every surface. Piles of filters, film paper and boxes full of developer sat untouched in boxes._

_She looked down to her worn little camera around her neck; it was a piece of junk compared to everything in this room!_

_"What're you doing in here?" A deep voice mumbled strangely, his voice thick with an English accent, "We don't open for a few hours."_

_"The-the lady," She stuttered, pointing blankly towards the door._

_"S'alright Thomas, I let her in," The women finally entered the room, closing the door quickly behind her, "One of those nasty store owners were chasin' her, couldn't just stand and watch."_

_The man did not respond, but instead approached May, whose eyes were now fixed intently on the floor. He took a good look at her ragged appearance._

_"What did you steal?" He asked knowingly, "Wouldn't have been that nice camera, was it?"_

_May shook her head quickly, grasping her camera protectively with her hand. She held out her hand and opened her palm to reveal the golden apple._

_The man raised his eyebrow, "All that for a bloody apple!" He laughed, before closing the young girl's hands, "No use wasting it."_

_May looked up merrily and stuffed the apple back in her pocket, "Thank you sir," She said quietly, "I don't like stealing. I was just hungry."_

_"Of course you were," He said shortly, finally coming to a realization, "Ran away from home?"_

_May shook her head. She never really liked speaking about herself to people. Luckily for her, the man did not question her further on the subject, she liked him already. People were usually too nosy for their own good._

_"Do you have a place to stay?" The woman cut in, her voice slightly concerned._

_May shook her head again, staring at the woman like she had just said the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard._

_The woman raised an eyebrow to the man, who responded with a chuckle._

_"What's your name, lass?" He asked gently._

_"May Beaulieu, and yours?" She inquired politely._

_"My name is Thomas, and this is my wife Angelica." He looked up to his beaming wife, who was holding her stomach with both hands._

_"Is this your store?" May asked, shifting her eyes back to the contents of the room, "I remembering seeing it before, but I've never been inside it."_

_"It sure is," Angelica laughed lightly, "It belonged to his father."_

_Thomas eyed the camera around her neck carefully, "How did you come in possession of such a nice viewfinder like that? Haven't seen one of those in quite some while."_

_"I didn't steal it, if that's what you mean," May blurted out hastily, "It was daddy's before he left."_

_"That's not what he meant, love," Angelica chuckled, "Where did your father go off to?"_

_"Heaven." May said bluntly, "Least that what mother told me, before she left as well."_

_They didn't respond right away. Thomas sighed deeply, taking a hand and moving it his through his prematurely thinning hair._

_"Are you tired? You poor thing! You look like you haven't had a decent night's rest in a long time!" Angelica put her hand on the small of her back, "We have an extra room upstairs you can sleep in if you wish."_

_Thomas exchanged a strange glance with his wife, but she knew what she was doing was right._

_May couldn't help but smile at her kindness, "Yes, actually, but I don't want to intrud-."_

_"Nonsense! It's too cold to be outside all day long, just get a good rest and we'll take it from there." Angelica assured her._

_May backed away unconsciously, "I'm not going back." She said in a startled tone._

_"Whatever are you talking about?" The woman responded quizzically._

_"The orphanage," She nearly cringed as the word left her mouth._

_"Of course you aren't," Angelica said in agreement, after a short pause._

_"Ang-." Thomas began in protest._

_"Oh hush Thomas, you can't blame the girl." She said sternly, "Now let's get you into bed then!"_

_"O-okay," May said quietly, her eyes still on Thomas as she followed the kind woman out of the room. She had a feeling he didn't like her too much. But she wouldn't be quick to judge him. Both he and his wife were giving her somewhere to sleep after all._

_"My clothes might be a little big on you," Angelica laughed, holding her stomach lightly. She followed her up a set of stairs, and Angelica turned on a small switch, "I'm sure one of my shirts we do fine for a night gown."_

_May responded with only a curt nod. As much as she appreciated these peoples kindness, it wasn't something that she was used to._

_The small room that they entered had a small bed in the corner and a nightstand beside it, and an empty bookshelf unused in the opposite corner. There was also a rather large window, with a sitting ledge attached. She could tell that no one came in there often. The bed sheets were untouched, and without a single wrinkle, and there was a thick layer of dust covering every surface._

_"I hope this is good enough," Angelica said quietly, as she reappeared in the doorway behind her. She held a plain grey blouse in her hand, "The bathroom is down the hall if you need anything."_

_"Thank you very much Miss Angelica," May bowed her head shyly._

_The woman smiled and exited the room, closing the door behind her._

_May turned towards the plush bed, a luxury she hadn't had for a long time. Even at the orphanage, the beds were thin and hard._

_After changing and settling herself into the bed, she lay wide awake, staring at the dark ceiling of the foreign room. She closed her eyes and waited for sleep to come, but as much she wanted it to, it never did._

_Sighing deeply, she got out of the bed and wrapped the bed's comforter around her shoulders. She sat by the ledge of the window, opening the glass a crack to let the sounds of New York enter the room._

_May rested her head against the wall, and quickly fell into a deep sleep._

* * *

Hayes stood patiently in front of the life rafts, waiting for his Captain to emerge from his cabin. Soon after he had gathered up ten crew members they began to lower the boats into the calmly waving water.

Finally, Englehorn came into view and stepped onto the second boat.

"Lower the boat," He called firmly; they could spare not a second. Whatever was happening on the island surely wasn't good. They could all be dead before they even reached it.

Jimmy approached the second rafts as it started lowering into the water.

"No Jimmy, stay here with the rest of the crew." Mr. Hayes put up a hand against his chest, preventing him from venturing further.

"You heard that scream, somethings happening!" Jimmy said in a frustrated voice, "What if someones hurt?"

"We'll have everyone back safely Jimmy," Hayes said briefly, finally getting into the raft, "In the meantime, get in the nest and see if you can tell what's going on."

Jimmy nodded momentarily, before running off in the opposite direction.

"Let's go!" The Captain ordered, as the boat hit the water.

* * *

Mike stood frozen for a moment, caught in a moment between life and death. A long wooden spear protruded from his chest, and stuck out clear through his back. Blood dripped from his mouth, his feet staggering for a moment before he crumpled to the ground; dead.

May dropped her bag, her eyes wide, but her mind not able to comprehend what exactly had just happened, as Ann just continued to scream.

Jack ran to her and attempted to pull her away from the scene, but it was too late.

Some more screams followed Ann's, wild, savage screams. Carl stepped back and tripped clumsily over a loose rock, falling onto his bottom.

Almost at once natives began to surround the area; but they were different than the others. Faster and well built; fully capable of putting up a good fight. Oh what an understatement that was proven to be.

They grabbed whoever was the closest to them, outnumbering them immensely, they restrained them, throwing them around like rag dolls.

May turned to run but felt a strong rough arm grab her around her waist and pull her back.

"May!" She heard Thomas yell loudly in her direction, but she was in too much shock to respond, everything was a blur. She was defenseless.

Her eyes deceived her, taking in no information, leaving her sense of feeling only to judge the situation.  
Hands grabbed her aggressively; she felt rushes of pain as her arms were pulled forcefully behind her back. They pulled her hair forward roughly, causing her to fall to the ground. Surrounding her, they began restraining her from every side. And suddenly it clicked in her brain. She should fight back. She wouldn't sit there limply and take it.

One of the men wrapped his filthy arm around her neck, in some sort of attempt to further restrain her, and she responded unconsciously by biting down hard on the skin of his arm. He screeched in pain, an ugly noise that raised her level of fear and caused her to back down. The man took back his arm and slapped her sharply across the face, causing her to go flying to ground. Her face hit the rough dirt. Suddenly another man jumped down onto her back and held her hands behind her back once more. She didn't fight back this time. She knew she could not win.

One of the crew members from before was pinned against the low rock beside her, his face struck in the emotion of pure horror. He noticed her and, sucking in a deep breath, said something she could not hear, for her ears were not working at the moment, but she read his lips and formed two words.

_Don't cry._

A long object was placed far above the man's head, pointed and twisted into some sort of weapon. May opened her mouth to warn him, but the words never came. The object was brought down and she saw red.

Blood trickled down from the open wound on the man's head, a man whose name she didn't even know. And still, in his final moments of life, he chose to offer comforting words to someone he knew just as well. Did he have a family, was he loved dearly by someone, who was this man and how did he impact the world on which they lived?

May stared, her mouth trembling and eyes bulging.

A foreign noise shifted her senses. A single pistol shot echoed through the vast space, and cries of fear followed soon afterwards. The weight on her back quickly disappeared, and she was left lying limply on her stomach.

She felt the sharp pain in her cheek where the man had slapped he, sure to leave a rather nasty bruise.

She continued to stare. The man lay unmoving, his chest not falling, nor rising.

She heard the sound of swift feet. Words on which were too far for her to comprehend.

A small pressure was put on the small of her back and she was suddenly on her feet again; the man's face disappearing from view.

"Ms. Beaulieu," A soft voice said with deep concern.

Her eyes focused, and looked to the man in front of her. She knew this man.

"Mr. Hayes." She said calmly, noticing that his arms wrapped around her waist were the only thing keeping her from falling once more.

"Jesus Christ," She heard him mutter, as he looked back at her, although she wasn't sure why.

She didn't respond as he kept one arm around her waist, and directed her away from the scene.

May looked around closely, Englehorn watched her closely, anger flaring up in his eyes as he watched on. He turned to Denham, "Seen enough?" He said harshly.

With the arm still firmly around her waist, she was lead back through the archway and over the bridge to the cavern, and finally to the life rafts. She walked unconsciously, her body on auto as her mind raced to catch up.

Two of the crew members in front of her were carrying the limp body of Jack; she looked on terrified, thinking the worse.

"He'll be fine," Hayes said suddenly, "Just a bump on the head." He assured her.

She was helped into the boat quickly, something large placed by her feet; her camera bag.

"Wipe the blood off her face, for goodness sake."

This brought May back to reality, the harshness of the Captains voice bringing her back to this world. She remembered where they were, why they were there.

She looked to the Captain, who was now looking away from her.

"Look here darling," Thomas' distinct voice said soothingly.

She turned her head in confusion as he lifted a dampened handkerchief and wiped it across her cheek.

Red stained the delicate cloth. Thomas folded the material carefully and put it back into his pocket. May looked on curiously, but none of the men looked to her, their eyes focused on the water around them.

No one said a word as they approached the boat. The sky was beginning to darken drastically, it would be time to leave soon and they would be free of this wretched place.

May looked over to the other boat eagerly, checking to make sure everyone was there. Ann was sitting by herself, her eyes were cold and unreadable. The film crew was also there, dumbfounded by the events that had just occurred. Carl on the other hand, was still filming the island, his tripod resting on the bench of the small life raft.

He really would do anything for this movie. One of his friends was just murdered, and now he acted as if nothing had happened.

To her surprise, Jimmy was not on any of the life rafts. She felt a sudden ache in her chest as she came to this realization.

"Missus," A kind voice said, breaking her from her thoughts. She then realized that they had already arrived back to the ship. One of the crew members, one named Louie she remembered, held his hand out to her to help her off the small boat.

She took the hand and tried to thank the man for his help, but she could not find her voice.

The crew scattered as they made their way onto the deck, continuing as if nothing had happened.

They didn't see what happened. She remembered this.

The world went black, and for a moment she thought she had fainted, but realized instead that someone had wrapped their arms around her. Her face buried in the neck of someone very warm, the strong and comforting smell of salt reached her senses. She closed her eyes and moved into the body. Gripping her hands tightly around the front of his loose shirt.

They stood there for what seemed like a very long time, until he broke free the embrace, moving his hands up to her face.

"Are you okay, you're hurt, who did this?" Jimmy said in a rushed voice, grazing his hand across her swollen cheek.

May searched his eyes for anger, but found nothing but concern.

"I'm fine," She said suddenly, not wanting to go any further into it.

Jimmy didn't look convinced, but didn't push her any further. He was just glad she was safe.

"Lighten the ship! Anything that's not bolted down goes overboard!" Englehorn called from the head of ship. The waves were getting rougher and the ship was rocking dangerously close to the jagged rocks.

Jimmy gave May one last unsure look before rushing away to help the rest of the crew. She stood silently for a moment, before rushing down to Denham's cabin, where she knew that the film crew had most likely gathered down there already.

* * *

The crew scrambled to get below deck, they couldn't spare a minute. They brought back up objects like tables, chests and kitchen equipment; things they could afford to lose, and threw them in the waters.

May entered the significantly large cabin without knocking, and noticed absentmindedly that it was at least four times bigger than her own.

"We got away. We gotta be grateful for that gentlemen." Denham said before taking a swig from his flask.

"What about Mike?" May added quietly.

Denham turned quickly at her voice, "May! You're alright! Thank goodness!" He said in a somewhat false voice.

"He didn't get away – he's still there." She continued, ignoring his droning.

"Mike died doing what he believed in! He didn't die for nothing. And I'll tell you something else." He said sharply, stopping only for a moment only to take another gulp of his strong drink, "I'm going to finish this film, for Mike. I'm going to finish it, and donate the proceeds to his wife and kids. Because that man is a hero, and he deserves nothing less!"

"Hear, hear!" Herb said in agreement, raising his glass and taking a swig of his own drink.

Preston said nothing, his face unreadable at he continued to stare at the floor. His eyes were unmoving, his mind in deep thought, he wasn't so sure he had made the right decision coming here.

"So, what now?" May said louder this time, fed up with Denham's feeble attempts at making the situation seem just.

"I have a feeling that our film doesn't end here." Preston said in a low voice, his eyes still on the floorboards.

"Stop worrying May! Come have a drink, in Mike's honor!" Denham said briskly.

"There are far better things I can in his honor, drinking is not one of them." May said angrily, raising her voice for the first time.

Preston looked up from the floor to look at her for the first time, his eyes wide. She saw something there, a look of slight admiration, for something he had never been brave enough to do himself.

May did not wait for anyone to respond. She opened the door once more and rushed down the hall to the galley.

Once she reached the galley she noticed Lumpy working frantically to pile a group of cooking pots on top of each other.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" May asked, stepping out the way of passing crew members.

Lumpy pointed suddenly to the opposite side of the room. She followed his hand to where Jack lay motionless on one of the galley tables. "We need Shakespeare off the table, it's gotta go overboard." He said briefly before taking off out of the room.

May wasted no time as she hurried over to the unconscious figure. His chest was moving in even deep breaths. She shook his shoulder roughly, wasting no time waking him up. To her surprise, he instantly opened his bleary eyes in a daze, his expression confused. He tried to get up quickly but ended up falling to his knees on the wooden floor.

"Thanks, love." Lumpy gave her a half-smile as he rushed back into the room with one of the crew. They took either side and lifted it out of the room.

"May..." Jack said in a groggy voice, before letting out a small cough, "May, where's Ann?"

"I…I'm not sure," May said truthfully, she hadn't see Ann directly since the island. She felt a slight twinge of guilt as she realized this, she should have checked up on her right away.

Jack said nothing in response, his face turning frantic. He pushed her out of the way and rushed out to the hall.

May followed close behind, racing up the hallway. She quickly lost sight of Jack, as the ship was still fighting the waves crashing in from every side, it was almost impossible to keep going for more than three steps without falling over.

She positioned her elbow against the wall and continued walking down the hall. She was sure Jack would have gone to the deck to look for, but she was certain that Ann would be in her cabin, staying clear out of the way of the rest of the crew.

The sounds of the crew became distant. The waves suddenly so far away. The only sound she heard was the muffled cry of a woman coming from the closed door up ahead.

_Ann._

May rushed forward and opened the door, she gasped at the sight. The room was a mess, clothes scattered everywhere, and papers strewn across the floor. She moved towards the doorways to outside, but slid across something wet and fell to the ground.

She closed her eyes and waited for impact, but somehow managed to catch herself on something soft.

There was a man lying on the ground. May noticed this immediately as she opened her eyes. What a strange thing to do! Especially in the current situation, the captain would surely hear of this.

She raised her shaking hand unconsciously, feeling some of the liquid, that she had assumed was sea water, she had slipped on before.

Water was not red.

May look down at the man lying in the pool of red.

This man was not alive.

May let out a silent scream and jumped up only to fall on the ground behind her.

"Ann!" Jack's voice came in hearing range, she heard him run down the hall, the heavy sound of his expensive Italian made shoes echoing through the hallway, "Ann!" She heard him open the door.

When he saw her, she was certain for a second that he had mistaken her for Ann, a flash of relief washing over his face. But as the realization dawned, his face became even more panicked.

"M-may," Jack stumbled on the short word, "Where's Ann?"

A single necklace lay on the ground at his feet. A small skull placed in the middle of the tribal piece.

"She's gone." May said in an empty tone, coming only to that realization as she spoke those words.

Jack didn't spare a second. He threw the necklace to the ground and ran from the room.

* * *

**_Review Please!_**


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